Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Quotes

[There is no] right of Congress ... to force a good thing upon a people who are unwilling to receive it. The great principle is the right of every community to judge and decide for itself whether a thing is right or wrong, whether it would be good or evil to adopt it.... Whenever you put a limitation upon the right of any people to decide what laws they want, you have destroyed the fundamental principle of self-government.

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

Isn't allowing people a choice what America is all about?

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

No man is good enough to govern another without the other man's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet anchor of American republicanism. … the just powers of governments are derived from the consent of the governed.

Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.

The free way of life proposes ends, but it does not prescribe means.

The Malagasy people must have the liberty to choose their own future.

Freedom of choice is more to be treasured than any possession earth can give.

Choice is an American value.

The principle of "the consent of the governed" is distinctly American and should be our world-wide slogan.

Every human being deserves a say in the decisions that affect their lives; no one should be subject to the will of another.

The United States supports the idea that every people should have the right to make a free choice as to the kind of government they want.

Freedom ia better than non-freedom.

Trust in the ability of people to make decisions about their own future is a fundamental tenet of democracy.

Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose.

People are free to do whatever they want to do.

Would you rather be right or free?

It is for men to choose whether they will govern themselves or be governed.

He who believes in freedom of the will has never loved and never hated.

I was intelligent enough to make up my own mind. I not only had freedom of choice, I had freedom of expression.

I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.

Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we can walk away from.

Ultimately, I'm about liberty and I think you have to defend it.

Our ideal of the future is that she should continue to render that service of her own free will.