Salman Rushdie Quotes

A free society means that you might have to put up with a lot of things you despise.

A final argument for broad freedom of expression is its effect on the character of individuals in a society. Citizens in a free society must have courage — the courage to hear not only unwelcome political speech but novel and shocking ideas in science and the arts.

The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions.

Democracy depends on the idea that we hold each others’ right to express ourselves and be heard above our own desire to always get the outcomes we want. You can’t impose tolerance top-down.

A free society is a place where it's safe to be unpopular.

We are a country that does better when we do debate and air our differences.

Free speech is the bedrock of liberty and a free society. And yes, it includes the right to blaspheme and offend.

I am an ardent believer in a free, democratic and inclusive society, and the robust exchange of views that is essential to tolerance.

Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected.

We live in a democracy. We have this extraordinary opportunity to use our mind and say what we think, speak as we think. Sometimes what we say is objectionable to other people. But that is part of a free society.

In an open society, no idea can be above scrutiny, just as no people should be beneath dignity.

Being a reporter is at the very core of a democracy, being a free person in a free society.

A simple way to determine whether the right to dissent in a particular society is being upheld is to apply the town square test: Can a person walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm? If he can, then that person is living in a free society. If not, it's a fear society.

The free society tolerates those within it who would use that freedom to destroy it.

Today I am here to defend the right to offend within the bounds of the law.

Freedom of the press and a free society either prosper together or perish together.

America remains an open society in which opposing forces can surface and clash, a necessary precondition for their solution.

The University is not engaged in making ideas safe for students. It is engaged in making students safe for ideas. Thus it permits the freest expression of views before students, trusting to their good sense in passing judgment on these views. Only in this way can it best serve American democracy.

Democratic elements in a society by their very nature feel that they have to give their religious fundamentalist opposition freedom of expression and action, a handicap from which their fundamentalist opponents do not suffer.

That's the beauty of democracy — you believe what you believe, I believe what I believe, and as long as we're not hurting each other, that's fine. Placing a value judgment on a person's beliefs has no place in a democracy.

The doctrine of toleration requires a positive as well as a negative statement. It is not only wrong to burn a man on account of his creed, but it is right to encourage the open avowal and defense of every opinion sincerely maintained. Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.

An open society is always in danger. It must constantly reaffirm its principles in order to survive.

America is great precisely because it is an open society, and an open society recognizes that nobody is the ultimate arbiter — and that we may be wrong at times, even if we are powerful. We must be open to criticism and respect divergent and different views and interests.

A free and open society is an on-going conflict, interrupted periodically by compromises.

The country is moving to a more open society.