QuoteProject
The first principle of a free society is an untrammeled flow of words in an open forum.
Adlai E. Stevenson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Free societies thrive on the open exchange of ideas and words.

This quote by Adlai E. Stevenson emphasizes the importance of freedom of expression as a foundational element of any free society. It suggests that for a society to be truly free, it must enable a vibrant and unrestricted dialogue among its members, allowing diverse opinions and thoughts to flow without hindrance, fostering understanding and progress.

Themes

Free SocietyFreedom Of SpeechOpen ForumExpressionCommunication

In practice

Example use cases

During a speech advocating for social media reform, one might quote this to highlight the importance of free speech online.

More from Adlai E. Stevenson

There is...a spiritual hunger in the world today and it cannot be satisfied...by better cars on longer credit terms.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
What a man knows at fifty that he did not know at twenty is, for the most part, incommunicable.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
Journalists do not live by words alone, although sometimes they have to eat them.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
Accuracy to a newspaper is what virtue is to a lady; but a newspaper can always print a retraction.
Adlai E. StevensonRead
I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends... that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.
Adlai E. StevensonRead

Similar quotes

I knew I would always want to go on living with myself, however hollow I became, however diseased.
John FowlesRead
The tyranny of a multitude is a multiplied tyranny.
Edmund BurkeRead
It was behaviour that I thought not far from racism, sexism or any other kind of prejudice or snobbery. 'Because you are not cute, I do not want to know you' was, to me, hardly different from suggesting 'because you are gay, I dislike you
Stephen FryRead
The emotional reaction in the peak experience has a special flavor of wonder, of awe, of reverence, of humility and surrender before the experience as before something great.
Abraham MaslowRead
Try as you may, you cannot put the Lord in your debt. For every time you try to do His will, He simply pours out more blessings upon you.
Ezra Taft BensonRead
Men are rewarded or punished not for what they do but for how their acts are defined. That is why men are more interested in better justifying themselves than in better behaving themselves.
Thomas SzaszRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.