--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man's right to know, to learn, to…" description: "\"Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by all means, be safe, if the word \"freedom\" s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg" --- # Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona… ![“Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by all means, be safe, if the word "freedom" should ever be more than an empty political slogan.” quote by Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg) > “Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by all means, be safe, if the word "freedom" should ever be more than an empty political slogan.” [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom includes safe access to knowledge, inquiry, and the right to err without repression. **In simple terms:** Freedom = safe learning. Key Takeaway Protect intellectual liberty. Themes freedom knowledge error Mood defiant hopeful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - education - research - media Key Concepts politics human rights Questions to Reflect On - How can societies safeguard free inquiry? - What role does error play in progress? A Different Perspective Safety may be compromised by censorship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Human emotions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-emotions/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Slogans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slogans/) ## Related quotes > [We can’t save ourselves from fear by seeking safety, because safety always means there’s something to be safe from-in other words, something to fear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/we-can-t-save-ourselves-from-fear-by-seeking-safety-because-safety/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) > [A back door is a nonstarter. It means we are all not safe... I don't support a back door for any government, ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/a-back-door-is-a-nonstarter-it-means-we-are-all-not-safe-i-don-t/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [“Every man waits his destined hour; even the cities are doomed to their fate. Let us spend our leisure with our books, which will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poggio-bracciolini/every-man-waits-his-destined-hour-even-the-cities-are-doomed-to-their/) Poggio Bracciolini > [“another option exists for those who want both peace and freedom: political defiance”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/another-option-exists-for-those-who-want-both-peace-and-freedom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Morality, and the ideal of freedom which is the political expression of morality, are not the property of a given party or group, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedetto-croce/morality-and-the-ideal-of-freedom-which-is-the-political-expression/) [Benedetto Croce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedetto-croce/) > [He who confuses political liberty with freedom and political equality with similarity has never thought for five minutes about either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/he-who-confuses-political-liberty-with-freedom-and-political-equality/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Political freedom is a political reading of the Bible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/political-freedom-is-a-political-reading-of-the-bible/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [You can have economic freedom without political freedom, but you cannot have political freedom without economic freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/you-can-have-economic-freedom-without-political-freedom-but-you/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Economic freedom has no security without political freedom, and political freedom can find its security only in economic freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugen-richter/economic-freedom-has-no-security-without-political-freedom-and/) Eugen Richter > [Unfortunately, the media, which are not at all reluctant to act in their own self-interest, have succeeded in equating reform in the public mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-l-buckley/unfortunately-the-media-which-are-not-at-all-reluctant-to-act-in/) [James L. Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-l-buckley/) > [“Since the Enlightenment, the political order is an order of freedom. The political structures are no longer given, previous to man's freedom, but are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-gutierrez/since-the-enlightenment-the-political-order-is-an-order-of-freedom/) [Gustavo Gutiérrez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-gutierrez/) > [Freedom, in a political context, means freedom from government coercion. It does not mean freedom from the landlord, from the employer, or freedom from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/freedom-in-a-political-context-means-freedom-from-government-coercion/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Since it might appear unusual that a bio-psychiatrist should work as an expert in the realm of non-living nature, I believe it will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/since-it-might-appear-unusual-that-a-bio-psychiatrist-should-work-as/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“I’ll touch you. Lick you. Fuck you. When I want. Where I want. And you can’t do a thing to stop me except use…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelly-bell/i-ll-touch-you-lick-you-fuck-you-when-i-want-where-i-want-and-you-can/) [Shelly Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelly-bell/) > [“And our safe word?" "Wonderwall." Lindsey turned around and cast Luc a sardonic look. " Your safe word is the name of an Oasis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-neill/and-our-safe-word-wonderwall-lindsey-turned-around-and-cast-luc-a/) [Chloe Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-neill/) ## More by Wilhelm Reich > [The question of how and why the encrustations and rigidifications of human emotional life are brought about led directly into the realm of vegetative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-question-of-how-and-why-the-encrustations-and-rigidifications-of/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“Saw a film on cancer yesterday, shown by the English delegation. No doubt about it. I'm right. "Migratory cancer cells" are amoebic formations. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/saw-a-film-on-cancer-yesterday-shown-by-the-english-delegation-no/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“All human philosophy is riddled with the nightmare of searching in vain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/all-human-philosophy-is-riddled-with-the-nightmare-of-searching-in/) [wilhelm reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [I know that what you call 'God' really exists, but not in the form you think; God is primal cosmic energy, the love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/i-know-that-what-you-call-god-really-exists-but-not-in-the-form-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [People should be \_very\_ careful when choosing the future fathers and mothers of their children. For that reason alone, it is extremely mean to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/people-should-be-very-careful-when-choosing-the-future-fathers-and/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“Gradually it became clear that it is a fundamental error to try to give the sexual act a psychological interpretation, to attribute to it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/gradually-it-became-clear-that-it-is-a-fundamental-error-to-try-to/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [Mistaking insolence for freedom has always been the hallmark of the slave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/mistaking-insolence-for-freedom-has-always-been-the-hallmark-of-the/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“Build your house on granite. By granite I mean your nature that you are torturing to death, the love in your child's body, your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/build-your-house-on-granite-by-granite-i-mean-your-nature-that-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [The vital energies regulate themselves naturally without compulsive duty or compulsive morality both of which are sure signs of existing antisocial impulses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-vital-energies-regulate-themselves-naturally-without-compulsive/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-ll-have-a-good-secure-life-when-being-alive-means-more-to-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [The suppression of natural sexual gratification leads to various kinds of substitute gratifications. Natural aggression, for example, becomes brutal sadism which then is an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-suppression-of-natural-sexual-gratification-leads-to-various/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [The cry for freedom is a sign of suppression. It will not cease to ring as long as man feels himself captive. As diverse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/the-cry-for-freedom-is-a-sign-of-suppression-it-will-not-cease-to/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“Race theorists, who are as old as imperialism itself, want to achieve racial purity in peoples whose interbreeding, as a result of the expansion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/race-theorists-who-are-as-old-as-imperialism-itself-want-to-achieve/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [You yourself create all your misery, hour after hour, day after day. You think the goal justifies the means, even the vile means. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/you-yourself-create-all-your-misery-hour-after-hour-day-after-day-you/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [“I want you to stop being subhuman and become 'yourself'. 'Yourself,' I say. Not the newspaper you read, not your vicious neighbor's opinion, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/i-want-you-to-stop-being-subhuman-and-become-yourself-yourself-i-say/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) [Explore all 130 Wilhelm Reich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) ## More Emotion quotes > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Of course I like you. It's because I like you I don't wanna be with you. It's a complicated emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlin/of-course-i-like-you-it-s-because-i-like-you-i-don-t-wanna-be-with/) Marlin > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [“Emotion as well as reason belongs to the very stuff of history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-smalley/emotion-as-well-as-reason-belongs-to-the-very-stuff-of-history/) Beryl Smalley > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [People are disturbed not by things but by the view they take of them. They may forget what you said, but they will never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/people-are-disturbed-not-by-things-but-by-the-view-they-take-of-them/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/there-cannot-be-any-communication-except-through-form-if-there-is-no/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-knowledge-of-the-existence-of-something-we-cannot-penetrate-of-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ Music \[is\] the third rail of life. You grabbed it to shock yourself out of the dull drag of hours. To feel something. To… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/music-is-the-third-rail-of-life-you-grabbed-it-to-shock-yourself-out/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [“What if each time you experienced an emotion, you acknowledged it, accepted it, and became curious about its message for you (instead of trying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/what-if-each-time-you-experienced-an-emotion-you-acknowledged-it/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [Many humanists have argued that happiness involves a combination of hedonism and creative moral development; that an exuberant life fuses excellence and enjoyment, meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kurtz/many-humanists-have-argued-that-happiness-involves-a-combination-of/) [Paul Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kurtz/) [Browse all 7,204 Emotion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by all means, be safe, if the word \"freedom\" should ever be more than an empty political slogan.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wilhelm Reich" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire-to-make-bona-fide-errors-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emotion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire-to-make-bona-fide-errors-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3af/wilhelm-reich-2565_emotion_man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire_3024168.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Man's right to know, to learn, to inquire, to make bona fide errors, to investigate human emotions must, by…” — Wilhelm Reich", "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": "Wilhelm Reich", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Man's right to know, to learn,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire-to-make-bona-fide-errors-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/man-s-right-to-know-to-learn-to-inquire-to-make-bona-fide-errors-to/#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 } } ] } ```