Template:Free speech quotes
Free speech - Quotes and cases
“The smell of the printer's ink is the incense of modern revolutionary organization.” Nicholas Bonneville in 1789 .
“Thanks to printing and the press, we have today means of intellectual propaganda that the ancients did not imagine. Without going to converse in the shops and preach in the squares, we send the radiations of our thoughts directly in the hearts of men of good will.” Theophile Thore, defended himself at his trial in 1840.
“For let us be honest in facing this fundamental fact: Those who cultivate competence, accuracy, and intellectual honesty tend to be the smallest segment of the journalistic community, their audience the smallest sector of the public.” The Flight from Truth: The Reign of Deceit in the Age of Information Jean Francois Revel.
"A function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purposes when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea." Writing for the court, Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949)
"No matter what the legislature may say, a man has the right to make his speech, print his handbill, compose his newspaper, and deliver his sermon without asking anyone's permission. The contrary suggestion is abhorrent to our traditions." Dissenting, Poulos v. New Hampshire, 345 U.S. 395 (1953)