No man is free who is not master of himself.
Themes
Freedom
Liberty of mind, speech, and the person.
The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
You are free to do what you want, but you are not free to want what you want.
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.
The average man doesn't want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.
Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.
The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America.
Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.