--- 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 to be his duty against the influences of authority and majo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png" --- # 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 to be his duty against the influences of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” quote by Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png) > “By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty against the influences of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.” [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Defines liberty as protection for individuals to act according to their conscience, despite pressures from authority, majority, tradition, or opinion. **In simple terms:** Freedom means acting on personal duty despite external pressures. Key Takeaway Defend personal conscience against conformity. Themes freedom conscience authority individualism Mood principled thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - legal advocacy - activism - education Key Concepts political philosophy civil rights Questions to Reflect On - What duties define your personal conscience? - How do you balance liberty with social responsibility? A Different Perspective May conflict with collective decision‑making. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assurance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assurance/) [Atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atheism/) [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Confidence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confidence/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Customs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customs/) [Diversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversity/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/influence/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Liberty and justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty-and-justice/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Positive atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive-atheism/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) ## Related quotes > [By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes is his duty against the influence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in-2/) John 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 last time I checked, the only difference between my gay friends and I is who we choose to love. I'm not sure how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pink/the-last-time-i-checked-the-only-difference-between-my-gay-friends/) [Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pink/) > [When I think of the flag… I see alternate strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice, and stripes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/when-i-think-of-the-flag-i-see-alternate-strips-of-parchment-upon/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“The ethic of autonomy is based on the idea that people are, first and foremost, autonomous individuals with wants, needs, and preferences. People should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/the-ethic-of-autonomy-is-based-on-the-idea-that-people-are-first-and/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/what-country-can-preserve-its-liberties-if-its-rulers-are-not-warned/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/it-will-be-of-little-avail-to-the-people-that-the-laws-are-made-by/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [“The Pledge of Allegiance says 'liberty and justice for all'. Which part of 'all' don't you understand?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-schroeder/the-pledge-of-allegiance-says-liberty-and-justice-for-all-which-part/) Pat Schroeder ## More by Lord Acton > [The history of institutions is often a history of deception and illusions; for their virtue depends on the ideas that produce and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-history-of-institutions-is-often-a-history-of-deception-and/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [A liberal is only a bundle of prejudices until he has mastered, has understood, experienced the philosophy of Conservatism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/a-liberal-is-only-a-bundle-of-prejudices-until-he-has-mastered-has/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Every class is unfit to govern.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/every-class-is-unfit-to-govern/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Fanaticism displays itself in the masses; but the masses were rarely fanaticised; and the crimes ascribed to it were commonly due to the calculations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/fanaticism-displays-itself-in-the-masses-but-the-masses-were-rarely/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [In England Parliament is above the law. In America the law is above Congress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/in-england-parliament-is-above-the-law-in-america-the-law-is-above/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [There is not a more perilous or immoral habit of mind than the sanctifying of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/there-is-not-a-more-perilous-or-immoral-habit-of-mind-than-the/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Towns were the nursery of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/towns-were-the-nursery-of-freedom/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [It was from America that the plain ideas that men ought to mind their business, and that the nation is responsible to Heaven for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/it-was-from-america-that-the-plain-ideas-that-men-ought-to-mind-their/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Character is tested by true sentiments more than by conduct. A man is seldom better than his word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/character-is-tested-by-true-sentiments-more-than-by-conduct-a-man-is/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Liberty and good government do not exclude each other; and there are excellent reasons why they should go together. Liberty is not a means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/liberty-and-good-government-do-not-exclude-each-other-and-there-are/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [The test of liberty is the position and security of minorities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-test-of-liberty-is-the-position-and-security-of-minorities/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [The common vice of democracy is disregard for morality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/the-common-vice-of-democracy-is-disregard-for-morality/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [Feudalism made land the measure and the master of all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/feudalism-made-land-the-measure-and-the-master-of-all-things/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [“power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutley”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/power-corrupts-absolute-power-corrupts-absolutley/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) > [There are many things the government cant do, many good purposes it must renounce. It must leave them to the enterprise of others. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/there-are-many-things-the-government-cant-do-many-good-purposes-it/) [Lord Acton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) [Explore all 141 Lord Acton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/) ## 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 to be his duty against the influences of authority and majorities, custom and opinion.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lord Acton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assurance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b6/lord-acton-3040_assurance_by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-eve_2696934.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By liberty I mean the assurance that every man shall be protected in doing what he believes to be his duty…” — Lord 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": "Lord Acton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-acton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "By liberty I mean the assurance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-acton/by-liberty-i-mean-the-assurance-that-every-man-shall-be-protected-in/#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 } } ] } ```