--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By liberty I mean the assurance that…" description: "\"By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majoriti..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg" --- # By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be… ![“By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” quote by John Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg) > “By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” John Acton ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Liberty means protection for individuals to act on their conscience, free from oppressive majority or authority. **In simple terms:** Liberty protects personal conscience. Key Takeaway Defend personal conscience against pressure. Themes freedom conscience authority individual rights Mood serious inspirational Type political ethical When to use this quote - voting - activism - journalism - education - legal advocacy Key Concepts political theory ethics civil liberties Questions to Reflect On - How should societies limit majority tyranny? - What responsibilities accompany liberty? A Different Perspective Balancing liberty with societal order is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) ## Related quotes > [By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [To be sure, God shall call you, and us, only at the hour that God has chosen. Until that hour, which lies in God's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/to-be-sure-god-shall-call-you-and-us-only-at-the-hour-that-god-has/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) > [“The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/the-world-has-never-had-a-good-definition-of-the-word-liberty-and-the-2/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Of course a lot of guys were ashamed. Somebody said let's go out and fight for liberty and so they went out and got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-trumbo/of-course-a-lot-of-guys-were-ashamed-somebody-said-let-s-go-out-and/) [Dalton Trumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-trumbo/) > [The liberty I mean is social freedom. It is that state of things in which liberty is secured by the equality of restraint. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/the-liberty-i-mean-is-social-freedom-it-is-that-state-of-things-in/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [Religious liberty should mean religious liberty for everyone, employees as well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neera-tanden/religious-liberty-should-mean-religious-liberty-for-everyone/) [Neera Tanden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neera-tanden/) > [“What the hell does liberty mean anyhow? It's just a word like house or table or any other word. Only it's a special kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalton-trumbo/what-the-hell-does-liberty-mean-anyhow-it-s-just-a-word-like-house-or/) [Dalton Trumbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalton-trumbo/) > [By physical liberty I mean the right to do anything which does not interfere with the happiness of another. By intellectual liberty I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/by-physical-liberty-i-mean-the-right-to-do-anything-which-does-not/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-all-declare-for-liberty-but-in-using-the-same-word-we-do-not-all/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The cholera most forcibly teaches us our mutual connection. Nothing shows more powerfully the duty of every man to look after the needs of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/titus-salt/the-cholera-most-forcibly-teaches-us-our-mutual-connection-nothing/) Titus Salt > [England expects every man to do his duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horatio-nelson/england-expects-every-man-to-do-his-duty/) [Horatio Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horatio-nelson/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) ## More by John Acton > [The greatest men, you can quote for everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/the-greatest-men-you-can-quote-for-everything/) John Acton > [By a series of violent shocks, the nations in succession have struggled to shake off the Past, to reverse the action of Time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-a-series-of-violent-shocks-the-nations-in-succession-have/) John Acton > [Liberty is the condition of duty, the guardian of conscience. It grows as conscience grows. The domains of both grow together. Liberty is safety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/liberty-is-the-condition-of-duty-the-guardian-of-conscience-it-grows/) John Acton Explore all 4 John Acton quotes ## More Assurance quotes > [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/) [Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/) > [A wholesome regard for the memory of the great men of long ago is the best assurance to a people of a continuation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/a-wholesome-regard-for-the-memory-of-the-great-men-of-long-ago-is-the/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [How arrogant - how very far from humility - would be the self-satisfied, smug assurance that God, a tidy-up-after-us God will come and clean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/how-arrogant-how-very-far-from-humility-would-be-the-self-satisfied/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [When God overcomes our difficulties for us, we have the assurance that we are engaged in His work and not our own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-muller/when-god-overcomes-our-difficulties-for-us-we-have-the-assurance-that/) [George Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-muller/) > [What really distinguishes this generation in all countries from earlier generations ... is its determination to act, its joy in action, the assurance of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-arendt/what-really-distinguishes-this-generation-in-all-countries-from/) [Hannah Arendt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-arendt/) > [There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-are-believers-who-by-god-s-grace-have-climbed-the-mountains-of/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Everybody in the real world will agree - the moment a project is behind deadline, quality assurance tends to go out the window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-cox/everybody-in-the-real-world-will-agree-the-moment-a-project-is-behind/) Alan Cox > [Perhapsthemost sublimeinsights oftheJewishprophets and the Christian gospel is the knowledge that since perfection is love, the apprehension of perfection is at once the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/perhapsthemost-sublimeinsights-ofthejewishprophets-and-the-christian/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [We have a commitment to serve our Lord. We have an assurance that the cause is just and worthy. But, above all, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/we-have-a-commitment-to-serve-our-lord-we-have-an-assurance-that-the/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Do not rest, believer, until you have full assurance of your interest in Jesus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/do-not-rest-believer-until-you-have-full-assurance-of-your-interest/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Confidentially, the type of male I find most enjoyable for a friend is one who has enough fire and assurance to speak up for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/confidentially-the-type-of-male-i-find-most-enjoyable-for-a-friend-is/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [Great literature has always been written in a like spirit, and is, indeed, the Forgiveness of Sin, and when we find it becoming the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/great-literature-has-always-been-written-in-a-like-spirit-and-is/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [Our assurance is anchored in the love and grace of God expressed in the glorious exchange: our sin for His righteousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/our-assurance-is-anchored-in-the-love-and-grace-of-god-expressed-in/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) [Browse all 557 Assurance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Acton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assurance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/485/john-acton-71821_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_3071771.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty…” — John Acton", "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": "John Acton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-acton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "By liberty I mean the assurance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in-2/#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 } } ] } ```