Jens Stoltenberg Quotes

A key part of our democracy is having a marketplace of ideas, open forums where people with diverse viewpoints can be heard and treated with respect.

I think most people like a bit of freedom and hearing things that they might not agree with, rather than just having everybody shutting their mouths.

American democracy is greater with free speech and open dialogue.

I encourage people to find and use the power of their voices just as much when I do not agree with those voices as when I do agree with them.

Open debate is our strongest tool in standing up to extremism. The far more dangerous avenue is to force extremist ideas underground, where they can fester without competition.

While the protection of speech is at the bedrock of our democracy, it's critical as a nation that we exercise our right every day - and that includes embracing and engaging with those we may not agree with.

I fundamentally agree with the critical nature of Israeli democracy, which embraces the core notion of free speech.

If you're going to have an exchange of ideas, the only thing you can do is to meet people face-to-face in front of a crowd who may think differently than you do. I mean, that's what democracy is about, isn't it?

Everybody's opinion is equally valid, and I feel like everybody should have an opportunity to speak out, and everyone should have the courage to speak out.

Shouting down and intimidating someone from speaking their mind is not exactly a Vermont town meeting value, nor should it be an American town meeting value.

I think it's a good thing to have a lot of voices in the media, and I think, you know, let all flowers bloom.

It is never smart, even in a strong democracy, to declare some debate off limits. In a weakening democracy it is catastrophic.

Foreign leaders should not be outraged by talk in a democracy.

Shame! Shame on this House! A civilized society does not stifle opposition. It meets it.

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.

Brown’s core value of promoting the free and open exchange of ideas is bedrock to our capacity to fulfill our mission as a university. This value applies not only when ideas are agreeable and aligned with our own. Protecting the right to free expression and promoting open discourse is even more essential when ideas are divergent, abhorrent or even hurtful.

Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal cords.

… if freedom of speech means anything, it means a willingness to stand and let people say things with which we disagree, and which do weary us considerably.

I'm a real believer in counter-speech when it comes to crazy stuff we don't like.

The foundation of our democracy is the ability to have a debate about any subject. That is why I am so committed to defending free speech.

To try to preemptively shut down debate with name-calling is profoundly un-American and will harm this country.

Instead of silencing speakers on campus, perhaps do what you're supposed to in college instead: listen to someone who thinks differently than you do.

Rather than shutting down free speech, we need to broaden it, to make it possible for young people to say even the things we dislike so we can talk them down. And we need politicians to articulate a picture of the future that includes all of us. Not British values but shared human values.

I invite a variety people on my show with wide-ranging opinions - sometimes even my jaw hits the floor, too - but I let them speak. Whether it's left, right, or center, I want to expose my viewers to other perspectives. Agree with them or not, the nation needs to listen.

One of the hallmarks of higher education and of democracy is the ability to converse with people with whom we disagree.