Neil Gaiman Quotes
It's certainly not too late to change to the winning side. But you know, you also have the freedom to stay just where you are. That's what it means to be an American. That's the miracle of America. Freedom to believe means the freedom to believe the wrong thing, after all. Just as freedom of speech gives you the right to stay silent.
Gaiman, Neil. American Gods. William Morrow, 2001, p. 412.
The choice of non-capitalization of the word “god” was Jefferson’s and is retained herein. This quotation is one of the most important in American history because it set the boundary for when it was proper for government to legislate personal behavior. For Jefferson, legislation was only justified if the behavior damged other people economically or physicly. Moral, religious, ethical or cultural affects were not sufficient to interfere with other people's freedom. The quotation was initially given to argue against a state etablished church and blasphemy laws and has been used in arguments even into the 21st century debate over gay marriage.
Hall wrote the above in The Friends of Voltaire as an illustration of Voltaire's beliefs. This quotation – which is sometimes misattributed to Voltaire himself – is often cited to describe the principle of freedom of speech. Hall wrote under a man’s name so that her work would be taken more seriously which it was.
Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, The Graveyard Book (2008). In 2013, The Ocean at the End of the Lane was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards.
