--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Most people would rather defend to the…" description: "\"Most people would rather defend to the death your right to say it than listen to it.\" — Robert Breault" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png" --- # Most people would rather defend to the death your right to… ![“Most people would rather defend to the death your right to say it than listen to it.” quote by Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png) > “Most people would rather defend to the death your right to say it than listen to it.” [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Highlights a tendency to defend abstract rights while ignoring the actual content of speech, critiquing superficial advocacy. **In simple terms:** People defend rights but ignore the words. Key Takeaway Prioritize listening over defending. Themes speech freedom critical listening Mood critical serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - political debate - media analysis - education workshops Key Concepts rhetoric civil discourse intellectual honesty Questions to Reflect On - Why do we defend rights without hearing? - How can we balance defense and listening? A Different Perspective It may underestimate the value of defending rights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Death Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death-right-239078/) [Defend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defend/) [Defend Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defend-death-549943/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Defend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-defend-667770/) [Say Listen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/say-listen-1015055/) ## Related quotes > [In fact, I would defend to the death their right to express a different point of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcguinness/in-fact-i-would-defend-to-the-death-their-right-to-express-a/) [Martin McGuinness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcguinness/) > [“I may not agree with you, but I will defend to the death your right to make an ass of yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-may-not-agree-with-you-but-i-will-defend-to-the-death-your-right-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I will defend, to your death, my right to my opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-defend-to-your-death-my-right-to-my-opinion/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have high hopes for my kids, and I'll defend them to the death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cowherd/i-have-high-hopes-for-my-kids-and-i-ll-defend-them-to-the-death/) [Colin Cowherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cowherd/) > [I may not agree with what you have to say, but I shall defend to the death your right to shut up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/i-may-not-agree-with-what-you-have-to-say-but-i-shall-defend-to-the/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [I think you should defend to the death their right to march, and then go down and meet them with baseball bats. 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That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/if-anyone-interferes-into-the-private-life-of-two-people-i-will/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [I cannot understand how sensible people still defend Facebook, YouTube and Twitter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/recep-tayyip-erdogan/i-cannot-understand-how-sensible-people-still-defend-facebook-youtube/) [Recep Tayyip Erdogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/recep-tayyip-erdogan/) > [People defend nothing more violently than the pretenses they live by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-drury/people-defend-nothing-more-violently-than-the-pretenses-they-live-by/) [Allen Drury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-drury/) > [You don't leave people who can't defend themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-amos/you-don-t-leave-people-who-can-t-defend-themselves/) [Tori Amos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-amos/) > [The best defense for any group of people is what we do to defend other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-simmons/the-best-defense-for-any-group-of-people-is-what-we-do-to-defend/) [Russell Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-simmons/) > [I would be more angry if an animal were treated cruelly than people, because people can defend themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heart-evangelista/i-would-be-more-angry-if-an-animal-were-treated-cruelly-than-people/) [Heart Evangelista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heart-evangelista/) > [Retirement? You're talking about death, right?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-altman/retirement-you-re-talking-about-death-right/) [Robert Altman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-altman/) ## More by Robert Breault > [You will not find a soulmate in the quiet of your room. You must go to a noisy place and look in the quiet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/you-will-not-find-a-soulmate-in-the-quiet-of-your-room-you-must-go-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/never-mind-the-odds-against-you-if-you-doubled-your-effort-what-would/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Of course I doubt. I do not practice a certainty. I practice a faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/of-course-i-doubt-i-do-not-practice-a-certainty-i-practice-a-faith/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Retirement is having nothing to do and someone always keeping you from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/retirement-is-having-nothing-to-do-and-someone-always-keeping-you/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [There is in art the notion of less is more, which is to say, you don't torture a painting that has already confessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-is-in-art-the-notion-of-less-is-more-which-is-to-say-you-don-t/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [One's dream is defeated not by unsolvable problems, but by all the more-or-less satisfactory solutions that kill it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/one-s-dream-is-defeated-not-by-unsolvable-problems-but-by-all-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/i-cultivate-my-garden-and-my-garden-cultivates-me/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The trick to getting ahead is to give it the same effort you give to getting even.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/the-trick-to-getting-ahead-is-to-give-it-the-same-effort-you-give-to/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Man will have replicated his own intelligence not when he teaches a computer to reason but when he teaches a computer to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/man-will-have-replicated-his-own-intelligence-not-when-he-teaches-a/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [To hurt someone you know will forgive you is the unkindiest thing of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/to-hurt-someone-you-know-will-forgive-you-is-the-unkindiest-thing-of/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For every person who atones, a hundred others find regret sufficient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/for-every-person-who-atones-a-hundred-others-find-regret-sufficient/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a means to success, determination has this advantage over talent - that it does not have to be recognized by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-means-to-success-determination-has-this-advantage-over-talent/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [As a gardener, I wonder if flowers really can't speak or just exercise unfailing good judgment in the matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/as-a-gardener-i-wonder-if-flowers-really-can-t-speak-or-just-exercise/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [Genius is a plodding intellect, incapable of dreaming up the obstacles that stop the rest of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/genius-is-a-plodding-intellect-incapable-of-dreaming-up-the-obstacles/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) [Explore all 710 Robert Breault quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) ## More Death quotes > [“He wondered how it was fair that your dying should depend so much on when you were born.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/he-wondered-how-it-was-fair-that-your-dying-should-depend-so-much-on/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. 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Then his eyes turned to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-anthony-torino/what-did-you-see-she-asked-gently-his-brow-furrowed-as-if-he-could/) [J. Anthony Torino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-anthony-torino/) > [Those whose life is long still strive for gain, and for all mortals all things take second place to money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/those-whose-life-is-long-still-strive-for-gain-and-for-all-mortals/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I practice Dying--every night-- But have not learned to, still-- Though Talented--by Mortal bones-- For such a common Skill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-w-powers/i-practice-dying-every-night-but-have-not-learned-to-still-though/) [Alan W. 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You can’t let anything that seems even semi-important pass, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-crutcher/i-think-when-you-re-dying-you-start-looking-for-important-things-in/) [Chris Crutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-crutcher/) [Browse all 39,127 Death quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Most people would rather defend to the death your right to say it than listen to it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Breault" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-death-your-right-to-say-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Death" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-death-your-right-to-say-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92e/robert-breault-304_death_most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-d_2426204.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Most people would rather defend to the death your right to say it than listen to it.” — Robert Breault", "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": "Robert Breault", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Most people would rather defend to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-death-your-right-to-say-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/most-people-would-rather-defend-to-the-death-your-right-to-say-it/#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 } } ] } ```