Liberty is the great parent of science and of virtue; and a nation will be great in both always in proportion as it is free.

 —Thomas Jefferson

Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility to saying No to any authority — literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social, and even political.

 —Ignazio Silone

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.

 —Martin Luther King, Jr

The best way to enhance freedom in other lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is worthy of emulation.

 —Jimmy Carter

Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!                             

—Benjamin Franklin

The right to freedom being the gift of God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.

 —Samuel Adams

Liberty means responsibility. That’s why most men dread it.

 —George Bernard Shaw

We must be free not because we claim freedom but because we practice it.

—William Faulkner

That which distinguishes this day from all others is that then both orators and artillerymen shoot blank cartridges.

 —John Burroughs

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.

 —Erma Bombeck