Dissent Quotations

Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy.

Those who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.

Free societies are societies in which the right of dissent is protected.

In contrast, fear societies are societies in which dissent is banned.

In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.

The human rights record within China seems to rise and fall over time, but it's very clear that in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and since then, there's been a greater intolerance of dissent and the human rights record of China has been going in the wrong direction.

The beginning of thought is in disagreement - not only with others but also with ourselves.

You know, when we get to a point in this country where dissent is extremism, we've turned, I think, a very dark page in our history. And I don't want us to go there. I encourage Americans and I'm - right now, to go to these town hall meetings, to - to talk to your Congressmen, the people that you elected.

It's so easy for propaganda to work, and dissent to be mocked.

Will dissent be permitted? The answer to that question will determine whether the society is a free society or a fear society.

Our young people - and adults - should be aware that considerable dissent exists in the scientific world regarding the validity of molecules-to-man evolution.

Throughout the lead-up to the war, CNN worked hard to air all sides of the story. We had a regular segment called Voices of Dissent in which we spent time covering antiwar protests and interviewing those who were opposed to the war with Iraq.

The only thing worth globalizing is dissent.

Words no longer have meaning if an Exchange that is not established by a State is "established by the State".

There are only two choices: A police state in which all dissent is suppressed or rigidly controlled; or a society where law is responsive to human needs. If society is to be responsive to human needs, a vast restructuring of our laws is essential.

More important than that, we know that there was a Defense Intelligence Agency dissent on that testimony even before Colin Powell made his presentation, ... We never heard about that.

No administration has the right to tell Americans that to dissent is disloyal and to disagree is unpatriotic.

I would encourage the commission to weigh heavily the First Amendment rights that we have, because that's really the fundamental thing: free speech, the ability to protest, legitimate dissent in a democracy.

But by having a right to dissent and having institutions which protect that right, free societies also have mechanisms to correct those abuses.

Unless upcoming speeches indicate that other FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) members are beginning to shift their views, we do not believe Olson's dissent represents the start of a broader movement within the FOMC toward slowing the pace of rate hikes.

I thought this is a great place to house this dissent without it being on the nose and saying I'm right.

It is not necessary, nor appropriate, to sow dissent and misrepresent employees or constantly to threaten industrial action.

I tell young teachers who are determined to dissent from some of the Draconian aspects of the current orthodoxy that the best form of protection is to be incredibly good at what you do and keep good discipline in class.

The press exerts the pressure of dissent on officials otherwise inclined to rest content with the congratulations of their retainers.

While the dissent came as a surprise, we certainly wouldn't read it as evidence of any sort of a significant split on the FOMC.

You'll often hear the left lecture about the importance of dissent in a free society.

The most American thing you can do is to stifle dissent.

The Democrats handle dissent by isolating it, smearing it and delegitimizing it in order to crush it.

Dissent and dissenters have no monopoly on freedom. They must tolerate opposition. They must accept dissent from their dissent.

Wild intelligence abhors any narrow world; and the world of women must stay narrow, or the woman is an outlaw. No woman could be Nietzsche or Rimbaud without ending up in a whorehouse or lobotomized.

Disagreement produces debate but dissent produces dissension.

We need to do something here. That?s why we gave it a shot. It?s a pretty one-sided board. There is never any dissent or any creative ideas thrown onto the table. We wanted to give them some alternatives they can use, but they are not prepared to deal with what is going on.

The player admitted what he had done was wrong and I took this, together with his previously exemplary conduct, into account. However, it is important to show that dissent of any sort at an umpire's decision is unacceptable and the player's punishment for his actions illustrates that fact.

Yes, there is some dissent and clearly we understand the feelings but we feel it is a minority,

At that point, Roberts either has to join them, saying that Roe is good law, ... or he has to join the dissent of Scalia, Rehnquist and Thomas, each of whom says Roe is an abomination and should be taken off the books.

There's nothing in his dissent which suggests disagreement with the underlying decision of Roe V. Wade,

I understand the principles of dissent in parliament.

A free society cherishes nonconformity. It knows that from the non-conformist, from the eccentric, have come many of the great ideas of freedom. Free society must fertilize the soil in which non-conformity and dissent and individualism can grow.

There was no dissent because none was allowed. The entire summit was simply a method for those elected and appointed officials who were there to pat themselves on the back. They are not looking for alternatives.

There's a tradition in the history of dissent in authoritarian countries of a certain kind of dissident, and their form of dissent is to live their lives as normally as possible.

It is the common failing of totalitarian regimes that they cannot really understand the nature of our democracy. They mistake dissent for disloyalty. They mistake restlessness for a rejection of policy. They mistake a few committees for a country. They misjudge individual speeches for public policy.

In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.

I don't see any dissent within the government.

I am more the patriot today as I march in protest and dissent than when I wore the uniform of a United States Marine. Nor am I less the warrior, armed with a bullhorn rather than an automatic weapon.

Neither with those nor with the others, with all I agree and dissent; in all part of truth and part of error must be seen.

The time appears to me to have come when it is the duty of all to make their dissent from religion known.

Science exists, moreover, only as a journey toward troth. Stifle dissent and you end that journey.

Dissent is the mark of freedom.

The DNC is concerned and disappointed that the Baker-Carter Commission on Federal Election Reform, over the strong dissent of some of its most distinguished members, has seen fit to support a 'national ID card' that threatens to deny the right to vote to millions of citizens who are lawfully registered and eligible to do so.

The 'global warming' lobby hopes to stop all dissent by shutting out, shouting down and intimidating any opposition.

The dissent we witness is a reaffirmation of faith in man; it is protest against living under rules and prejudices and attitudes that produce the extremes of wealth and poverty and that make us dedicated to the destruction of people through arms, bombs, and gases, and that prepare us to think alike and be submissive objects for the regime of the computer.

The important thing about groupthink is that it works not so much by censoring dissent as by making dissent seem somehow improbable.

I stood among them, but not of them: in a shroud of thoughts which were not their thoughts.

A government of, by and for the people is obligated to conduct the nation's business in a manner that respects dissent.

There is no democracy without dissent.

You have a responsibility to listen to the dissent in yourself.

We must dissent from the fear.

Dissents speak to a future age.

In religion, it is not the sycophants or those who cling most faithfully to the status quo who are ultimately praised. It is the insurgents.

The most un-American thing you can do is to stifle dissent

The original crime of niggers and lesbians is that they prefer themselves.

Dissent without action is consent.

Looking at God instantly reduces our disposition to dissent from our brother.

I heard that Commentary and Dissent had merged and formed Dysenery.