honesty & freedom

thank God that at this hour I am dangerous to the war profiteers of this country who rob the people on the one hand, and rob and debase the government on the other; and then with their pockets and wallets stuffed with the filthy, bloodstained profits of war, wrap the sacred folds of the Stars and Stripes about them and [about] their blatant hypocrisy to the world.
~ Kate Richards O’Hare’s Address To the Court Proceedings on the Sentencing of Mrs. Kate Richards O’Hare by Hon Martin J. Wade, 1 P. M., Friday, Dec 14, 1917.
http://pages.slu.edu/student/alamla/Doc13.html

Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless.
~ Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi – (1828-1910) Russian writer; Source: On Life and Essays on Religion

Free inquiry requires that we tolerate diversity of opinion and that we respect the right of individuals to express their beliefs, however unpopular they may be, without social or legal prohibition or fear of success.
~ Paul Kurtz; Source: A Secular Humanist Declaration, in On The Barricades, 1989

This is, in theory, still a free country, but our politically correct, censorious times are such that many of us tremble to give vent to perfectly acceptable views for fear of condemnation. Freedom of speech is thereby imperiled, big questions go undebated, and great lies become accepted, unequivocally as great truths.
~ Simon Heffer; Source: Daily Mail, 7 June 2000

When people who are honestly mistaken learn the truth, they will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest! : Anonymous