Immanuel Kant Quotes

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.

I think it is the responsibility of a citizen of any country to say what he thinks.

The citizen who criticizes his country is paying it an indirect tribute.

Every one has right to express his views on any subject, and I am a common man, a tax payer, and part of the society.

It is one thing to tell the citizens of some faraway country to go to hell, but it is another to do the same to your own citizens, who are supposedly your ultimate sovereigns.

People say, 'If you don't vote, then you don't have a right to say anything. But nine times outta 10, I pay more taxes than they do - so even if I don't vote, I still have the right to speak out.

Citizenship is a tough occupation which obliges the citizen to make his own informed opinion and stand by it.

To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

I certainly think it's very important that writers as citizens - not necessarily as writers, but just as ordinary citizens - should talk about things that matter to them.

I don't like paying taxes, but I like sleeping at night.

If we don't bear witness as citizens, as people, as individuals, the right that we have had to life is sacrificed. There is a silence, instead of a speaking presence.

It is the absolute right of the State to supervise the formation of public opinion.

The most important office, ... that of private citizen.

When a system goes astray, it is the right and obligation of citizens to oppose it and change it-for themselves and for generations to come

We have a great nation to help govern. We who are citizens of this great republic are favored children, yet we are all the time complaining; but that is one of the inalienable privileges of an American to complain about his neighbor and government-always crying for a change. But, with all of its faults, this is the best government for man on the face of the earth

Citizenship is not a transaction where you put your taxes in and take your services out. It is a relationship.

It must be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our system, that every citizen who enjoys the protection of free government, owes not only a portion of his property, but even of his service to the defense of it.

Where is the man who owes nothing to the land in which he lives?

How many thousands pronounce boldly on the affairs of the public whom God nor men never qualified for such judgment?

There is no one left to fix the nation, none but all of us.

Speech is an essential mechanism of democracy, for it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people. [...] The right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it. [...] By taking the right to speak from some and giving it to others, the Government deprives the disadvantaged person or class of the right to use speech to strive to establish worth, standing, and respect for the speaker’s voice. The Government may not by these means deprive the public of the right and privilege to determine for itself what speech and speakers are worthy of consideration. The First Amendment protects speech and speaker, and the ideas that flow from each.

After military service, the most patriotic thing you can do as a wealthy person is pay your taxes.

The basic social contract is that citizens agree to follow the law, pay their taxes, and devote their love and loyalty to their country, and in exchange, the nation commits to preserve and protect and serve their interests, safeguard their freedom, and return to them in kind their first allegiance and loyalty.

No sane person enjoys paying tax... money, after all, is a very nice thing to have. But it's the price we all pay for so many vital things in this country - and those of us lucky enough to have a bit more should be proud to be paying a little bit more as well.

What concerns all, should be considered by all; and individuals may injure a whole society, by not declaring their sentiments. It is therefore not only their right, but their duty, to declare them.