Censorship Consequences Quotes

Some degree of abuse is inseparable from the proper use of every thing; and in no instance is this more true than in that of the press. It has accordingly been decided, by the practice of the states, that it is better to leave a few of its noxious branches to their luxuriant growth, than, by pruning them away, to injure the vigor of those yielding the proper fruits.

In the long run [censorship] will create a generation incapable of appreciating the difference between independence of thought and subservience.

As to the evil which results from censorship, it is impossible to measure it, because it is impossible to tell where it ends.

Once you “volunteer” and engage in self-censorship something happens to your conscience.

The case against censoring anything is absolute: ... nothing that could be censored can be so bad in its effects, in the long run, as censorship itself.

As a writer, I am constantly aware that I take my life in my hands with everything I do and say. It's just a fact of life. For me it always has been.

Everyone has an opinion, and the guy screaming for censorship may be the next guy to have his ideas cut off.

People must not think that all bad in man which is unleashed, the moment you impose censorship disappears from man.

The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.