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Henry Steele Commager Quotes

A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas Picture Quote #1

We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn’t foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything Picture Quote #1

The decision for complete religious freedom and for separation of church and state in the eyes of the rest of the world was perhaps the most important decision reached in the New World. Everywhere in the western world of the 18th century, church and state were one; and everywhere the state maintained an established church and tried to force conformity to its dogma Picture Quote #1

The English love for privacy is proverbial, and has not been exaggerated. A stranger who strikes up a conversation is looked upon with suspicion - unless he happens to be an American, when his ignorance of good manners is indulged Picture Quote #1

The Bill of Rights was not written to protect governments from trouble. It was written precisely to give the people the constitutional means to cause trouble for governments they no longer trusted Picture Quote #1

It is probably safe to say that over a long period of time, political morality has been as high as business morality Picture Quote #1

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America was born of revolt, flourished on dissent, became great through experimentation Picture Quote #1

Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change Picture Quote #1

Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them Picture Quote #1

Freedom is not a luxury that we can indulge in when at last we have security and prosperity and enlightenment; it is, rather, antecedent to all of these, for without it we can have neither security nor prosperity nor enlightenment Picture Quote #1

The justification and the purpose of freedom of speech is not to indulge those who want to speak their minds. It is to prevent error and discover truth. There may be other ways of detecting error and discovering truth than that of free discussion, but so far we have not found them Picture Quote #1

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 Picture Quote #1

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We should not forget that our tradition is one of protest and revolt and that it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past...while we silence the rebels of the present Picture Quote #1

The greatest danger that threatens us is neither heterodox thought nor orthodox thought, but the absence of thought Picture Quote #1

Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them Picture Quote #1

The greatest danger we face is not any particular kind of thought. The greatest danger we face is absence of thought Picture Quote #1

History is a jangle of accidents, blunders, surprises and absurdities, and so is our knowledge of it, but if we are to report it at all we must impose some order upon it Picture Quote #1

If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent Picture Quote #1

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Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive Picture Quote #1

Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion Picture Quote #1

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Text Quotes

A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas. (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn’t foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything. (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The decision for complete religious freedom and for separation of church and state in the eyes of the rest of the world was perhaps the most important decision reached in the New World. Everywhere in the western world of the 18th century, church and state were one; and everywhere the state maintained an established church and tried to force conformity to its dogma (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The English love for privacy is proverbial, and has not been exaggerated. A stranger who strikes up a conversation is looked upon with suspicion - unless he happens to be an American, when his ignorance of good manners is indulged (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The Bill of Rights was not written to protect governments from trouble. It was written precisely to give the people the constitutional means to cause trouble for governments they no longer trusted (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) It is probably safe to say that over a long period of time, political morality has been as high as business morality (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) America was born of revolt, flourished on dissent, became great through experimentation (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Freedom is not a luxury that we can indulge in when at last we have security and prosperity and enlightenment; it is, rather, antecedent to all of these, for without it we can have neither security nor prosperity nor enlightenment (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The justification and the purpose of freedom of speech is not to indulge those who want to speak their minds. It is to prevent error and discover truth. There may be other ways of detecting error and discovering truth than that of free discussion, but so far we have not found them (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) 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 (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) We should not forget that our tradition is one of protest and revolt and that it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past...while we silence the rebels of the present (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The greatest danger that threatens us is neither heterodox thought nor orthodox thought, but the absence of thought (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) The greatest danger we face is not any particular kind of thought. The greatest danger we face is absence of thought (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) History is a jangle of accidents, blunders, surprises and absurdities, and so is our knowledge of it, but if we are to report it at all we must impose some order upon it (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive (Henry Steele Commager Quotes) Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion (Henry Steele Commager Quotes)