Billy Bragg Quotes

In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example ... of charters of power granted by liberty.

The real strength of the democratic theory in opposition to the fascist or communist is that the fascist frankly states that certain people will tell other people what they shall do to be happy, and those other people have little or nothing to say about it. In theory the communists were to do everything in common, in practice a small group there also tells other people what they shall do to achieve their objectives. So far more nearly than any other form of government, the democratic form has allowed people to shape their own government

Individual liberty depends upon keeping government under control.

Liberty itself has appeared intolerable to those nations who have not been accustomed to enjoy it.

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.

I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.

Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with reason and justice.

What citizens of a free country would listen to any offers of good and skillful administration in return for the abdication of freedom?

No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.

Democracy is but an experiment in the long history of the world.

I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.

I believe, basically, that individual freedom is very important.

The important matter is freedom. When the people choose what they want, it is good for them and for us.

Freedom is popular. Bring it on.

Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.

History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

I think it's obvious that democracy is something that is contagious, and it always has been.

Democracy shows not only its power in reforming governments, but in regenerating a race of men and this is the greatest blessing of free governments.

The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

There has been much said about danger to the national security. Democracy itself is a dangerous form of government and in its very danger lies its strength. The protection of individual rights by the requirement of due process of law, which has long endured in this nation of ours, is a radical and dangerous idea in most of the world today.

If you give people an opportunity for self government and freedom, most people will reach for freedom

Liberty and good government do not exclude each other.

The people of every country are the only safe guardians of their own rights, and are the only instruments which can be used for their destruction.

The most profound argument for democracy is its faith in man.