Right to Protest Quotes

You know why there's a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one.

The subject of human rights in China is one which I have discussed on numerous occasions in the United States. In fact, I've talked so much about it, that I practically have blisters on my mouth. Human rights in China have been improving from one day to the next, and I think it's fair to say that the degree of human rights now being enjoyed by the Chinese people is unprecedented in China's history. We acknowledge that we still have shortcomings, and these shortcomings are ones which we are still working hard to address

When the government violates the people's rights, insurrection is ... the most sacred of rights and the most indispensable of duties.

Criticism of government finds sanctuary in several portions of the 1st Amendment. It is part of the right of free speech. It embraces freedom of the press.

Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion all have a double aspect—freedom of thought and freedom of action.

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

The right to speak freely concerning functions of the Federal Government is a privilege of immunity of every citizen of the United States which, even before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment, a State was powerless to curtail.

The right to insult members of the government is inviolable.

If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.

My applications submitted to the Tribunal regarding my interview during the hunger strike were misinterpreted, and it was published in the press that I was going to offer defence, though in reality I was never willing to offer any defence.

There is no democracy without dissent.

The Liberty of Conscience and of the Press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any authority of the United States

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.

We are exercising our constitutional right to be fresh.

Honestly, this country was built on freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and when you can no longer do that, then it is no longer based on that, you know.

Free speech, free press, free religion, the right of free assembly, yes, the right of petition—well, they are still radical ideas.

In the long, fierce struggle for freedom of opinion, the press, like the church, counted its martyrs by thousands..

I'm a crusader. I really believe in the First Amendment, and I use it fully, and I pay a price for that.

The right to dissent is one of the great and cherished freedoms that we enjoy by reason of the excellent accident of our American births.

People have a right to express themselves.

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.

I'm not interested in censorship. I like the First Amendment very much.

But why shouldn't I speak out? Don't you speak out in this country?

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.

We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.