Freedom. Freedom is at the core of universal human values. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, freedom in where to live, and the freedoms to strike, to demonstrate, and to protest, among others, are the forms that freedom takes. Without freedom, China will always remain far from civilized ideals.
Liu Xiaobo, No Enemies, No Hate: Selected Essays and Poems, Chapter 8.
No one should attempt to describe a utopia unless he’s recently reread, for example, the works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Jane Austen, Rabelais and Dostoevski to remind himself of how different people are.
Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State And Utopia (1974).
All forms of tampering with human beings, getting at them, shaping them against their will to your own pattern, all thought control and conditioning is, therefore, a denial of that in men which makes them men and their values ultimate.
Isaiah Berlin, “Two Concepts of Liberty” (1958).
William John Locke, The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905), p. 50.
Truth is the enfant terrible of the Virtues.
Doesn’t the idea, or ideal, of the minimal state lack luster? Can it thrill the heart or inspire people to struggle or sacrifice? Would anyone man barricades under its banner? It seems pale and feeble in comparison with, to pick the polar extreme, the hopes and dreams of utopian theorists. Whatever its virtues, it appears clear that the minimal state is no utopia.
Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State And Utopia (1974).
So much of what we see going on in the world is mirrored in our interactions with each other. We see nations testing other nations, measuring each other’s strengths and weaknesses. For some leaders, the question is always the same: How far can I go with my bullying, before the consequences catch up with me?
Barbara Emrys, co-author with Don Miguel Ruiz, on his website.
On one level or another, important philosophical points can be understood by every college, even every high school, student. Many of these insights have direct bearing on how well people live. Failing to make them available or shrouding them in a fog of technicalities amounts to abandonment of our responsibility.
John Lachs, A Community of Individuals (2003), p. 11.
Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he, “That when they speak truth they are not believed.”
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.).
When small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.
Lin Yutang, as quoted in Hard-to-Solve Cryptograms (2001) by Derrick Niederman, p. 96.
Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power to the fullest possible extent and the dispersal and distribution of whatever power cannot be eliminated — a system of checks and balances.