Roger Scruton Quotes

I can't emphasize how important free speech is to a liberal and free democracy.

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

We need to defend absolutely the freedom of speech.

In this country you can say aloud or publish just about anything you like.

The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech.

Without free speech no search for Truth is possible; without free speech no discovery of Truth is useful; without free speech progress is checked, and the nations no longer march forward towards the nobler life which the future holds for man. Better a thousand-fold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech. The abuse dies in a day; the denial slays the life of the people and entombs the hope of the race.

Freedom of speech is freedom above all for those whose views you dislike most.

Speak, speak, speak, & remember that whenever anyone's liberty to speak is denied, your liberty is denied also, & your place is where the attack is.

People have the right to say what they want to.

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

I think that, as Americans, we should never forget that when we tamper with freedom of speech, it is a very sensitive issue that affects all of our constitutional rights and privileges.

Everybody favours free speech in the slack moments when no axes are being ground.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

One of the problems with defending free speech is you often have to defend people that you find to be outrageous and unpleasant and disgusting.

I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized.

In England, you're allowed to have an opinion - as long as it comes out of your mouth.

We can never intimidate and discourage the people who voice their words with courage. The essence of freedom rests precisely here - in the freedom of expression of the people. And we must protect it.

I don't think we should be deprived of the privilege of free speech.

One has the right to be wrong in a democracy.

Better a thousandfold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech.

Free expression is the base of human rights, the root of human nature and the mother of truth. To kill free speech is to insult human rights, to stifle human nature and to suppress truth.

Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself.

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.

The only way of living in a free society is to feel that you have the right to say and do stuff.

People have a right to criticize.