Milos Forman Quotes

When people are intimidated about having their own opinions, oppression is at hand.

It is not true that virtually all news in a totalitarian state is false.

The first people totalitarians destroy or silence are men of ideas and free minds.

As I speak to you today, government censors somewhere are working furiously to erase my words from the records of history. But history itself has already condemned these tactics.

The National Socialist Party will prevent in the future, by force if necessary, all meetings and lectures which are likely to exercise a depressing influence on the German state.

It is a crime now in my country to talk about the government's crimes.

Locking up dissenters does not reduce dissent - it fosters it.

You know what they say: When people start burning books they'll soon burn human beings.

I was born under Communism. I know what it's like to live in a system where you can't speak, you have to whisper. Where the state is so pervasive and so intrusive.

To silence criticism is to silence freedom.

Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds.

It's very worrying at this time in the world that any point of view should be prohibited, that's banned, there are heretics that should be burned at the stake.

I mean, they censor your work when they're scared of it.

In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned.

In Iraq during the days of Saddam, I had a government minder who followed me everywhere, reported on my activities.

Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom of speech.

Once you permit those who are convinced of their own superior rightness to censor and silence and suppress those who hold contrary opinions, just at that moment the citadel has been surrendered.

If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.

Madame... I have come from a country where one can be hanged for what one says.

Totalitarianism liquidates its internal enemies or smashes opposition as soon as it arises; it uses methods that are simple and infallible because they are undemocratic. But democracy can defend itself from within only very feebly; its internal enemy has an easy time of it because he exploits the right to disagree that is inherent in democracy.

Thought that is silenced is always rebellious.

Where there is official censorship it is a sign that speech is serious.

The one reason we know that every totalitarian government must fail is that no totalitarian government is prepared to face the consequence of free universities.

There are men—now in power in this country—who do not respect dissent, who cannot cope with turmoil, and who believe that the people of America are ready to support repression so long as it is done with a quiet voice and a business suit.

Dissidents are despicable parasites