--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think the moment anybody seriously…" description: "\"I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.\" — Seymour Hersh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg" --- # I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the… ![“I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.” quote by Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg) > “I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.” [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He warns that any serious attack on free speech will provoke strong public backlash. **In simple terms:** Attacking free speech triggers public outcry. Key Takeaway Defend the First Amendment vigorously. Themes freedom speech public reaction Mood alert defensive Type political commentary warning When to use this quote - policy advocacy - public education - legal challenges Key Concepts constitutional rights civic engagement Questions to Reflect On - What constitutes a legitimate restriction on speech? - How can society balance free expression with harmful content? A Different Perspective The claim may overlook nuanced debates about speech limits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [First amendment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-amendment/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Outcry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outcry/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I've been a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. And I'm going to continue to do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-kemp/i-ve-been-a-strong-supporter-of-the-second-amendment-and-i-m-going-to/) [Brian Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-kemp/) > [What I would like to see is for people to come together and say: Of course we're going to protect and defend the Second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/what-i-would-like-to-see-is-for-people-to-come-together-and-say-of/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [For the life of me, I don't understand what honest motive there is in putting this in front of this body to philosophically debate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dianne-feinstein/for-the-life-of-me-i-don-t-understand-what-honest-motive-there-is-in/) [Dianne Feinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dianne-feinstein/) > [We are going to appoint justices ­­ this is the best way to help the Second Amendment. We are going to appoint justices that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-are-going-to-appoint-justices-this-is-the-best-way-to-help-the/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [“Everyone has a way of finding relief. Our outcry is a way of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-uzih/everyone-has-a-way-of-finding-relief-our-outcry-is-a-way-of-hope/) [Lord Uzih](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-uzih/) > [There's a real outcry out there for 'The Boondocks.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-witherspoon/there-s-a-real-outcry-out-there-for-the-boondocks/) [John Witherspoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-witherspoon/) > [Much outcry, little outcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/much-outcry-little-outcome/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [I think only a massive public outcry would result in my receiving any measure of justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-peltier/i-think-only-a-massive-public-outcry-would-result-in-my-receiving-any/) [Leonard Peltier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-peltier/) > [Pain is an outcry of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-south/pain-is-an-outcry-of-sin/) [Robert South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-south/) > [“a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/a-long-habit-of-not-thinking-a-thing-wrong-gives-it-a-superficial/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Nature is an outcry, unpolished truth; the art, a euphemism, tamed wilderness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/nature-is-an-outcry-unpolished-truth-the-art-a-euphemism-tamed/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [“That voice that cries out doesn't have to be a weakling's does it?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-osborne/that-voice-that-cries-out-doesn-t-have-to-be-a-weakling-s-does-it/) [John Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-osborne/) > [“They want us to be afraid. They want us to be afraid of leaving our homes. They want us to barricade our doors and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/they-want-us-to-be-afraid-they-want-us-to-be-afraid-of-leaving-our/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“It is not often the worst trait that occasions the loudest outcry. Men complain of their suffering and not of the crime.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/it-is-not-often-the-worst-trait-that-occasions-the-loudest-outcry-men/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [A public outcry usually masks a private obsession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/a-public-outcry-usually-masks-a-private-obsession/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) ## More by Seymour Hersh > [I can't fudge what I write. But I can certainly fudge what I say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-can-t-fudge-what-i-write-but-i-can-certainly-fudge-what-i-say/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [If Bush had gone into Iraq for cynical reasons, we could cut our losses now. What's frightening is that he did it for ideological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/if-bush-had-gone-into-iraq-for-cynical-reasons-we-could-cut-our/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [At a meeting in her office in the late summer of 2002, months before the war in Iraq, prisoner abuse at Guantanamo is discussed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/at-a-meeting-in-her-office-in-the-late-summer-of-2002-months-before/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [Using words to make other people less big made me feel bigger, though the psychological dimension to that... well, I don't want to explore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/using-words-to-make-other-people-less-big-made-me-feel-bigger-though/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [I didn't know I was gonna be a writer when I started out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-didn-t-know-i-was-gonna-be-a-writer-when-i-started-out/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [We'd be better off if the whole purpose of the adventure in Iraq was, say, to protect Israel or to protect the flow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/we-d-be-better-off-if-the-whole-purpose-of-the-adventure-in-iraq-was/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [The idea of photographing an Arab man naked and having him simulate homosexual activity, and having an American GI woman in the photographs, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/the-idea-of-photographing-an-arab-man-naked-and-having-him-simulate/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [There's been a lot of talk about how bad the reporting was, particularly with the George W. Bush Administration after 9/11. The general assumption,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/there-s-been-a-lot-of-talk-about-how-bad-the-reporting-was/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [Grab whom you must. Do what you want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/grab-whom-you-must-do-what-you-want/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [If George W. Bush had gone into Iraq for cynical reasons, we could cut our losses now. What's frightening is that he did it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/if-george-w-bush-had-gone-into-iraq-for-cynical-reasons-we-could-cut/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [I don't think I've ever met a public official that didn't think he was doing the right thing. I can't think of one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-don-t-think-i-ve-ever-met-a-public-official-that-didn-t-think-he/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [How can you have a security guarantee? The Europeans can give their security guarantees to Iran all they want in return for their stopping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/how-can-you-have-a-security-guarantee-the-europeans-can-give-their/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [I don't know Condoleezza Rice personally. I'm sure she's a nice lady, and I'm sure she plays the piano well. But she was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-don-t-know-condoleezza-rice-personally-i-m-sure-she-s-a-nice-lady/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [And then, of course, Bush won reelection, with everything out there, all of our complaints, all of the issues, all of the troubles with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/and-then-of-course-bush-won-reelection-with-everything-out-there-all/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [The day after 9/11, we should have gone to Russia. We did the one thing that George Kennan warned us never to do -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/the-day-after-9-11-we-should-have-gone-to-russia-we-did-the-one-thing/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) [Explore all 71 Seymour Hersh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) ## More First amendment quotes > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [“ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/united-states-congress/congress-shall-make-no-law-respecting-an-establishment-of-religion-or/) United States Congress > [This separation was absolute in our original Republic. But the sky-godders do not give up easily. In the 1950s they actually got the phrase…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/this-separation-was-absolute-in-our-original-republic-but-the-sky/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [The First Amendment makes confidence in the common sense of our people and in the maturity of their judgement the great postulate of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/the-first-amendment-makes-confidence-in-the-common-sense-of-our/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [“It struck me that there is a reason James Madison put freedom of speech and freedom of the press in the very first amendment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-karl/it-struck-me-that-there-is-a-reason-james-madison-put-freedom-of/) [Jonathan Karl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-karl/) > [“The tendency to want what has been banned and therefore to presume that it is more worthwhile is not limited to such commodities as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-cialdini/the-tendency-to-want-what-has-been-banned-and-therefore-to-presume/) [Robert B. Cialdini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-cialdini/) > [The First Amendment exists to protect our religious liberty--to ensure that all Americans are able to seek out worship God with all our hearts,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-cruz/the-first-amendment-exists-to-protect-our-religious-liberty-to-ensure/) [Ted Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-cruz/) > [The lessons of the First Amendment are as urgent in the modern world as the 18th Century when it was written. One timeless lesson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-kennedy/the-lessons-of-the-first-amendment-are-as-urgent-in-the-modern-world/) [Anthony Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-kennedy/) > [I think the reality is that copyright law has for a very long time been a tiny little part of American jurisprudence, far removed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/i-think-the-reality-is-that-copyright-law-has-for-a-very-long-time/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [The First Amendment defends all forms of speech including hate speech, which is why groups like Ku Klux Klan are allowed to utter their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/the-first-amendment-defends-all-forms-of-speech-including-hate-speech/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [Citizens United is a disgrace of a decision, holding that corporate money is corporate speech and entitled to the same First Amendment protection as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/citizens-united-is-a-disgrace-of-a-decision-holding-that-corporate/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [I'm really proud of this Supreme Court and the way they've been dealing with the issue of First Amendment political speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-mcconnell/i-m-really-proud-of-this-supreme-court-and-the-way-they-ve-been/) [Mitch McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-mcconnell/) > [Pat Buchanan... was fired by MSNBC for doing nothing more than voicing his rock-solid conservative thoughts on the otherwise failing network... The real message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/pat-buchanan-was-fired-by-msnbc-for-doing-nothing-more-than-voicing/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Any test that turns on what is offensive to the community's standards is too loose, too capricious, too destructive of freedom of expression to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/any-test-that-turns-on-what-is-offensive-to-the-community-s-standards/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/our-first-amendment-expresses-a-far-different-calculus-for-regulating/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) [Browse all 466 First amendment quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-amendment/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seymour Hersh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tampers-with-the-first-amendment/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "First amendment" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tampers-with-the-first-amendment/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e2b/seymour-hersh-9648_first-amendment_i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tam_833010.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think the moment anybody seriously tampers with the First Amendment, you're going to see an outcry.” — Seymour Hersh", "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": "Seymour Hersh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think the moment anybody seriously...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tampers-with-the-first-amendment/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/i-think-the-moment-anybody-seriously-tampers-with-the-first-amendment/#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 } } ] } ```