Classical liberalism Quote by Henry Steele Commager

““A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows that from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas of freedom. A free society fertilizes the soil in which non-conformity and dissent and individualism can grow.””

Henry Steele Commager

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More by Henry Steele Commager

It's awfully hard to be the son of a great man and also of a half-crazy woman.

Henry Steele Commager

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America was born of revolt, flourished in dissent, became great through experimentation.

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The American people...have a stake in non-conformity. For they know that the American genius is non-conformist.

Henry Steele Commager

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We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn't foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything.

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We should not forget that our tradition is one of protest and revolt, and it is stultifying to celebrate the rebels of the past…

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The justification and the purpose of freedom of speech is not to indulge those who want to speak their minds. It is to prevent…

Henry Steele Commager

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The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of…

Henry Steele Commager

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A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas.

Henry Steele Commager

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History is organized memory, and the organization is all important!

Henry Steele Commager

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It seems fair to say that while the moral standards of the nineteenth century persisted almost unchanged into the twentieth, moral practices changed sharply,…

Henry Steele Commager

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In the long run [censorship] will create a generation incapable of appreciating the difference between independence of thought and subservience.

Henry Steele Commager

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History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it…

Henry Steele Commager

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More Classical liberalism quotes

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“The safest way to make laws respected is to make them respectable.”

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