--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I want freedom, the right to…" description: "\"I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.' Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_i-want-freedom-the-right-to-self-express_430385.png" --- # I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's… ![“I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.' Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world — prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own closest comrades I would live my beautiful…” quote by Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_i-want-freedom-the-right-to-self-express_430385.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_i-want-freedom-the-right-to-self-express_430385.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c40/emma-goldman-774_anarchism_i-want-freedom-the-right-to-self-express_430385.png) > “I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.' Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world — prisons, persecution, everything. Yes, even in spite of the condemnation of my own closest comrades I would live my beautiful ideal.” [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocating personal freedom and beauty despite societal oppression reflects radical commitment to ideals. **In simple terms:** Live your ideals despite opposition. Key Takeaway Stay true to your vision, regardless of external pressure. Themes freedom idealism rebellion Mood determined hopeful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - artistic creation - political activism - social movements - personal relationships Key Concepts anarchism personal autonomy beauty resistance Questions to Reflect On - What sacrifices are you willing to make for your ideals? - How do you balance personal well‑being with radical commitment? A Different Perspective Idealism may clash with practical realities and relationships. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) [Anarchism Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism-meant-1407446/) [Beautiful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beautiful/) [Comrade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comrade/) [Condemnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condemnation/) [Expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expression/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-right/) [Persecution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persecution/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self expression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-expression/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Things Anarchism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-anarchism-1407447/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-freedom/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I became alive once more. At the dances I was one of the most untiring and gayest. One evening a cousin of Sasha, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/i-became-alive-once-more-at-the-dances-i-was-one-of-the-most-untiring/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [I want freedom, the right to self-expression , everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/i-want-freedom-the-right-to-self-expression-everybody-s-right-to-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [If not for the direct action of a John Brown and his comrades, America would still trade in the flesh of the black man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-not-for-the-direct-action-of-a-john-brown-and-his-comrades-america/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The higher mental development of woman, the less possible it is for her to meet a congenial male who will see in her, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-higher-mental-development-of-woman-the-less-possible-it-is-for/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-pursuit-of-knowing-was-freedom-to-me-the-right-to-declare-your/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [Freedom is the right to never have to lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/freedom-is-the-right-to-never-have-to-lie/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/freedom-is-the-right-to-question-and-change-the-established-way-of/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [“What is freedom to that young man, who sits there, with his arms folded over his broad chest, the tint of African blood in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-freedom-to-that-young-man-who-sits-there-with-his-arms-folded/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marshall/may-we-think-of-freedom-not-as-the-right-to-do-as-we-please-but-as/) [Peter Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marshall/) > [“Freedom is the right to difference; being plurality, it postulates the dispersion of the absolute, its resolution into a dust of truths, equally justified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emil-cioran/freedom-is-the-right-to-difference-being-plurality-it-postulates-the/) [Emil Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emil-cioran/) > [Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/is-freedom-anything-else-than-the-right-to-live-as-we-wish-nothing/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [A slave has not the freedom even to do the right thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-slave-has-not-the-freedom-even-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Freedom is not the right to live as we please, but the right to find how we ought to live in order to fulfill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/freedom-is-not-the-right-to-live-as-we-please-but-the-right-to-find/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I will always vote on the side of freedom and our right to keep and bear arms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mel-martinez/i-will-always-vote-on-the-side-of-freedom-and-our-right-to-keep-and/) [Mel Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mel-martinez/) > [If it is right for men to fight for their freedom, and God knows what the human race would be like today if men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/if-it-is-right-for-men-to-fight-for-their-freedom-and-god-knows-what/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) ## More by Emma Goldman > [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Lack of fairness to an opponent is essentially a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/lack-of-fairness-to-an-opponent-is-essentially-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Only when human sorrows are turned into a toy with glaring colors will baby people become interested - for a while at least. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/only-when-human-sorrows-are-turned-into-a-toy-with-glaring-colors/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [More pernicious than the power of a dictator is that of a class; the most terrible - the tyranny of a majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/more-pernicious-than-the-power-of-a-dictator-is-that-of-a-class-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of ecstasy; love, the definer of all laws, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/love-the-strongest-and-deepest-element-in-all-life-the-harbinger-of/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Whether our reformers admit it or not, the economic and social inferiority of women is responsible for prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/whether-our-reformers-admit-it-or-not-the-economic-and-social/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [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/) > [Someone has said that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/someone-has-said-that-it-requires-less-mental-effort-to-condemn-than/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The persecution of the innovator and protestant has always been inspired by fear on the part of constituted authority of having its infallibility questioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-persecution-of-the-innovator-and-protestant-has-always-been/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Order derived through submission and maintained by terror is not much of a safe guaranty; yet that is the only "order" that governments have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/order-derived-through-submission-and-maintained-by-terror-is-not-much/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Today is the parent of tomorrow. The present casts its shadow far into the future. That is the law of life, individual and social.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/today-is-the-parent-of-tomorrow-the-present-casts-its-shadow-far-into/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Salvation lies in an energetic march onward towards a brighter and clearer future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/salvation-lies-in-an-energetic-march-onward-towards-a-brighter-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The more hideous the mental contortions, the greater the delight and bravos of the mass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-more-hideous-the-mental-contortions-the-greater-the-delight-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) [Explore all 368 Emma Goldman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## More Anarchism quotes > [I know one thing: that you can do a lot of things but if you don't educate people into conscious anarchism it gets frittered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-know-one-thing-that-you-can-do-a-lot-of-things-but-if-you-don-t/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Anarchism is a definite intellectual current in the life of our times, whose adherents advocate the abolition of economic monopolies and of all political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/anarchism-is-a-definite-intellectual-current-in-the-life-of-our-times/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/does-it-follow-that-i-reject-all-authority-perish-the-thought-in-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Anarchism as a political philosophy seeks to dissolve all forms of authority and power, and if possible, wishes their complete abolition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marshall/anarchism-as-a-political-philosophy-seeks-to-dissolve-all-forms-of/) [Peter Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marshall/) > [And now, what has Anarchism to say to all this, this bankruptcy of republicanism, this modern empire that has grown up on the ruins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltairine-de-cleyre/and-now-what-has-anarchism-to-say-to-all-this-this-bankruptcy-of/) [Voltairine de Cleyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltairine-de-cleyre/) > [I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-see-anarchism-as-the-theoretical-ideal-to-which-we-are-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/anarchists-are-opposed-to-violence-everyone-knows-that-the-main-plank/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [“They knew that their anarchism was the product of a very high civilization, of a complex diversified culture, of a stable economy and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/they-knew-that-their-anarchism-was-the-product-of-a-very-high/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Anarchism means voluntary co-operation instead of forced participation. It means harmony and order in place of interference and disorder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-berkman/anarchism-means-voluntary-co-operation-instead-of-forced/) [Alexander Berkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-berkman/) > [The Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats. They believe that 'the best government is that which governs least,' and that which governs least is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-anarchists-are-simply-unterrified-jeffersonian-democrats-they/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [We must therefore turn to history for enlightenment; here we find that none of the proclaimed anarchist groups correspond to the libertarian position, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/we-must-therefore-turn-to-history-for-enlightenment-here-we-find-that/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“I became an anarchist very early on. Anarchism, in my mind, meant taking democracy seriously and organizing prefiguratively- that is, in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrej-gruba-i/i-became-an-anarchist-very-early-on-anarchism-in-my-mind-meant-taking/) [Andrej Grubačić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrej-gruba-i/) [Browse all 388 Anarchism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.' Anarchism meant that to me, and I would live it in spite of the whole world — prisons, persecution, everything. 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