--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm all in favour of free expression…" description: "\"I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.\" — Alan Bennett" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg" --- # I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept… ![“I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.” quote by Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg) > “I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.” [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Free expression is valuable but must be balanced with clear limits to prevent chaos. **In simple terms:** Free speech needs boundaries. Key Takeaway Support expression, set limits. Themes speech freedom control responsibility Mood thoughtful balanced Type political philosophical When to use this quote - public debates - media regulation - classroom discussions - online platforms Key Concepts political theory ethics law Questions to Reflect On - Where should free expression end? - How do you enforce limits without censorship? A Different Perspective Over‑control can stifle creativity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Favour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favour/) [Favour Free](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/favour-free-4889906/) [Free expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-expression/) [Kept Rigidly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kept-rigidly-4889904/) [Rigidly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rigidly-1595633/) [Rigidly Control](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rigidly-control-4889905/) ## Related quotes > [Everything, both mental and physical, is rigidly bound by the law of causation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/everything-both-mental-and-physical-is-rigidly-bound-by-the-law-of/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/if-one-sticks-too-rigidly-to-one-s-principles-one-would-hardly-see/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [Freedom demands that we struggle for an extension of both equality and free expression, not regard one as inimical to the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/freedom-demands-that-we-struggle-for-an-extension-of-both-equality/) [Kenan Malik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenan-malik/) > [I have I guess 3 passions. One is the Constitution. The other is jazz and the other is being an atheist prolifer which, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nat-hentoff/i-have-i-guess-3-passions-one-is-the-constitution-the-other-is-jazz/) [Nat Hentoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nat-hentoff/) > [The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest and only safety in a sane society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-free-expression-of-the-hopes-and-aspirations-of-a-people-is-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [No, nothing is sacred. And even if there were to be something called sacred, we mere primates wouldn't be able to decide which book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/no-nothing-is-sacred-and-even-if-there-were-to-be-something-called/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To curtail free expression strikes twice at intellectual freedom, for whoever deprives another of the right to state unpopular views necessarily deprives others of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-vann-woodward/to-curtail-free-expression-strikes-twice-at-intellectual-freedom-for/) [C. Vann Woodward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-vann-woodward/) > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [How odd that the proponents of free expression think 'free' only applies to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/how-odd-that-the-proponents-of-free-expression-think-free-only/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [“In our haste to disseminate news, it should not be forgotten that the Framers intended copyright itself to be the engine of free expression.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-weinstock-netanel/in-our-haste-to-disseminate-news-it-should-not-be-forgotten-that-the/) [Neil Weinstock Netanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-weinstock-netanel/) > [The Human Rights Act is not a terrorists' charter. 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Even if these people are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayatollah-khomeini/after-the-revolution-the-borders-were-left-open-pens-were-free/) [Ayatollah Khomeini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayatollah-khomeini/) > [In a nation as dynamic and diverse as the United States, what makes us great is that our founding principles are rooted in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/in-a-nation-as-dynamic-and-diverse-as-the-united-states-what-makes-us/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [“Character gains through its expression, and loses through its repression. Love grows through its expression. Sympathy grows through its expression. Knowledge grows through its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay-trumbull/character-gains-through-its-expression-and-loses-through-its/) [Henry Clay Trumbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay-trumbull/) ## More by Alan Bennett > [“The closest she got to pretence was politeness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/the-closest-she-got-to-pretence-was-politeness/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [An article on playwrights in the Daily Mail , listed according to Hard Left, Soft Left, Hard Right, Soft Right and Centre. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/an-article-on-playwrights-in-the-daily-mail-listed-according-to-hard/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [I'm not good at precise, coherent argument. But plays are suited to incoherent argument, put into the mouths of fallible people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-not-good-at-precise-coherent-argument-but-plays-are-suited-to/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [The thing I think about is that once you've done it, you then start to think about what you're going to do next. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/the-thing-i-think-about-is-that-once-you-ve-done-it-you-then-start-to/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [At the drabber moments of my life (swilling some excrement from the steps, for instance, or rooting with a bent coat-hanger down a blocked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/at-the-drabber-moments-of-my-life-swilling-some-excrement-from-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [There are more microbes per person than the entire population of the world. Imagine that. Per person. This means that if the time scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/there-are-more-microbes-per-person-than-the-entire-population-of-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [I'm more socialist certainly than New Labour - I'm very old Labour, really.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-more-socialist-certainly-than-new-labour-i-m-very-old-labour/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [Why do we not care to acknowledge them? The cattle, the body count. We still don't like to admit the war was even partly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/why-do-we-not-care-to-acknowledge-them-the-cattle-the-body-count-we/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [Were we closer to the ground as children, or is the grass emptier now?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/were-we-closer-to-the-ground-as-children-or-is-the-grass-emptier-now/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [But most men regard their life as a poem that women threaten. They may not have two spondees to rub together but they still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/but-most-men-regard-their-life-as-a-poem-that-women-threaten-they-may/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [“BURGESS How do you like Moscow? CORAL Loathe it, darling. I cannot understand what those Three Sisters were on about. It gives the play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/burgess-how-do-you-like-moscow-coral-loathe-it-darling-i-cannot/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/the-best-moments-in-reading-are-when-you-come-across-something-a/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [Your whole life is on the other side of the glass. And there is nobody watching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/your-whole-life-is-on-the-other-side-of-the-glass-and-there-is-nobody/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [The appeal of reading, she thought, lay in its indifference: there was something undeferring about literature. Books did not care who was reading them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/the-appeal-of-reading-she-thought-lay-in-its-indifference-there-was/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [“How do I define history? It's just one fucking thing after another”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/how-do-i-define-history-it-s-just-one-fucking-thing-after-another/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) [Explore all 188 Alan Bennett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) ## More Expression quotes > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. 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The lyrics are the answer to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-asking-a-girl-how-she-feels-try-looking-through-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/to-evoke-in-oneself-a-feeling-one-has-once-experienced-and-having/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Our fashion for us, it's an expression; first of all of life, I put all of myself in my fashion. Sometimes it's good, sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefano-gabbana/our-fashion-for-us-it-s-an-expression-first-of-all-of-life-i-put-all/) [Stefano Gabbana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefano-gabbana/) > [We can see nothing whatever of the soul unless it is visible in the expression of the countenance; one might call the faces at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-c-lichtenberg/we-can-see-nothing-whatever-of-the-soul-unless-it-is-visible-in-the/) [Georg C. Lichtenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-c-lichtenberg/) > [Early experience shapes the structure and function of the brain. This reveals the fundamental way in which gene expression is determined by experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-siegel/early-experience-shapes-the-structure-and-function-of-the-brain-this/) [Daniel J. Siegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-siegel/) > [Singing has always seemed to me the most perfect means of expression. It is so spontaneous. And after singing, I think the violin. Since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgia-o-keeffe/singing-has-always-seemed-to-me-the-most-perfect-means-of-expression/) [Georgia O'Keeffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgia-o-keeffe/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nick looked vaguely homicidal, but that was sort of his default expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-rees-brennan/nick-looked-vaguely-homicidal-but-that-was-sort-of-his-default/) [Sarah Rees Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-rees-brennan/) > [They are the gateway for our modern esthetic development, the prophets of the new time. They are most of all, the primitives of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/they-are-the-gateway-for-our-modern-esthetic-development-the-prophets/) [Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/) > [The mountain receives our expressions and becomes part of us; we imprint our memories upon it and trust it with out dearest divisions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-barcott/the-mountain-receives-our-expressions-and-becomes-part-of-us-we/) [Bruce Barcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-barcott/) > [In science, the most exciting expression isn’t ‘Eureka!’ It’s ‘Huh?’](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hawley/in-science-the-most-exciting-expression-isn-t-eureka-it-s-huh/) [Michael Hawley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hawley/) > [A commitment to lifelong learning is a natural expression of the practice of living consciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/a-commitment-to-lifelong-learning-is-a-natural-expression-of-the/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 5,024 Expression quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alan Bennett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-provided-it-s-kept-rigidly-under/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Expression" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-provided-it-s-kept-rigidly-under/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dd4/alan-bennett-1922_expression_i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-pro_599284.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.” — Alan Bennett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alan Bennett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I'm all in favour of free...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-provided-it-s-kept-rigidly-under/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/i-m-all-in-favour-of-free-expression-provided-it-s-kept-rigidly-under/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```