dissent quotes

Archibald Macleish: 

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.

Barbara Ehrenreich: 

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

David Ogilvy: 

Talent ... is most likely to be found among non-conformists, dissenters, and rebels.

Edward R. Murrow: 

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.

Edward R. Murrow: 

No one can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices. (about Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations about Communism in the American government)

Eleanor Holmes Norton: 

The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don't agree with.

Elie Wiesel: 

It may well be that our means are fairly limited and our possibilities restricted when it comes to applying pressure on our government. But is this a reason to do nothing? Despair is nor an answer. Neither is resignation. Resignation only leads to indifference, which is not merely a sin but a punishment

Eric Hoffer: 

The beginning of thought is in disagreement -- not only with others but also with ourselves.

Evelyn Beatrice Hall: 

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. (paraphrasing Voltaire)

Florynce Kennedy: 

You've got to rattle your cage door. You've got to let them know that you're in there, and that you want out. Make noise. Cause trouble. You may not win right away, but you'll sure have a lot more fun.

George Orwell: 

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.

Harry S Truman: 

Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.

J. William Fulbright: 

In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.

James Luther Adams: 

Nothing is complete and thus nothing is exempt from criticism.

John F. Kennedy: 

Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed -- and no republic can survive

John Lewis: 

We live in a country where we're supposed to have freedom of the press and religious freedom, but I think to some degree, there’s a sense of fear in America today, that if you say the wrong thing, what some people will consider what is wrong, if you step out of line, if you dissent, whether you be an entertainer, that somehow and some way this government or the forces to be will come down on you.

Martin Luther King Jr.: 

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

Mohandas K. Gandhi: 

Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the opposite views.

Vaclav Havel: 

You do not become a "dissident" just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.

William O. Douglas: 

Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.