Michael Kinsley Quotes

Advocates of 'free speech' often repeat the mantra that the best response to bad speech is more and better speech, not the suppression of the bad stuff.

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.

The common notion that free speech prevails in the United States always makes me laugh.

Think 'free speech,' not 'free beer.'

The remedy for the abuse of free speech is more speech.

Whether it's people walking off 'The View' when Bill O'Reilly makes a statement about radical Islam or Juan Williams being fired for expressing his opinion, over-reaching political correctness is chipping away at the fundamental American freedoms of speech and expression.

People have a right to criticize.

For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter.

Political speech is indispensable to decision-making in a democracy, and this is no less true because the speech comes from a corporation. 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.

In America-as elsewhere-free speech is confined to the dead.

We do not need a censorship of the press. We have a censorship by the press... It is not we who silence the press. It is the press who silences us.

With regard to freedom of expression there are basically two positions: you defend it vigorously for views you hate, or you reject it in favor of Stalinist/Fascist standards.

Freedom of speech includes the freedom to offend people.

To silence criticism is to silence freedom.

If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.

In America it's live by the sword of freedom of expression and be will to die by it as well.

I think free speech is probably the coolest thing we have in this country, and again, you can label it hate speech and dismiss it, and then you're allowed to censor it.

I think Thomas Jefferson would have said the more speech, the better.

To open his lips is crime in a plain citizen.

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.

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

We need to defend absolutely the freedom of speech.

Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.

I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.