All 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
- 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… Detecting
- America was born of revolt, flourished on dissent, became great through experimentation. America
- 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.… Celebrate
- The American people...have a stake in non-conformity. For they know that the American genius is non-conformist. American
- And we wonder what can be that 'philosophy of education' which believes that young people can be trained to the duties of citizenship by wrapping… Believe
- Its awfully hard to be the son of a great man and also of a half-crazy woman. Awfully
- The greatest danger we face is not any particular kind of thought. The greatest danger we face is absence of thought. Absence
- 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… Bill
- If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent. Criticism
- It is probably safe to say that over a long period of time, political morality has been as high as business morality. Been
- It is sobering to recall that though the Japanese relocation program, carried through at such incalculable cost in misery and tragedy, was justified on the… Carried
- Every effort to confine Americanism to a single pattern, to constrain it to a single formula, is disloyalty to everything that is valid in Americanism. Americanism
- 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… Absurdities
- The English love for privacy is proverbial, and has not been exaggerated. A stranger who strikes up a conversation is looked upon with suspicion -… American
- Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion. Always Defeats
- Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Assure
- Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them. Ability
- 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. Always Equate
- 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… Always Defeats
- A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows that from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas of freedom. Free society… Cherishes