If our democracy is to flourish it must have criticism, if our government is to function it must have dissent. Only totalitarian governments insist upon conformity and they - as we know - do so at their peril. Henry Steele Commager More Quotes by Henry Steele Commager More Quotes From Henry Steele Commager Education is essential to change, for education creates both new wants and the ability to satisfy them. Henry Steele Commager essentials want education A free society cherishes nonconformity. Henry Steele Commager eccentric cherish ideas It is sobering to recall that though the Japanese relocation program, carried through at such incalculable cost in misery and tragedy, was justified on the ground that the Japanese were potentially disloyal, the record does not disclose a single case of Japanese disloyalty or sabotage during the whole war. Henry Steele Commager cost tragedy war We cannot have a society half slave and half free; nor can we have thought half slave and half free. If we create an atmosphere in which men fear to think independently, inquire fearlessly, express themselves freely, we will in the end create the kind of society in which men no longer care to think independently or to inquire fearlessly. Henry Steele Commager atmosphere men thinking The Bill of Rights was not written to protect governments from trouble. It was written precisely to give the people the constitutional means to cause trouble for governments they no longer trusted. Henry Steele Commager government rights mean Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive. Henry Steele Commager patriotic men thinking History is organized memory, and the organization is all important! Henry Steele Commager important organization memories Censorship always defeats it own purpose, for it creates in the end the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion. Henry Steele Commager censorship-in-books real exercise The justification and the purpose of freedom of speech is not to indulge those who want to speak their minds. It is to prevent error and discover truth. There may be other ways of detecting error and discovering truth than that of free discussion, but so far we have not found them. Henry Steele Commager freedom-of-speech errors mind The decision for complete religious freedom and for separation of church and state in the eyes of the rest of the world was perhaps the most important decision reached in the New World. Everywhere in the western world of the 18th century, church and state were one; and everywhere the state maintained an established church and tried to force conformity to its dogma. Henry Steele Commager eye decision religious If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent. Henry Steele Commager democracy liberty government Whether history will judge this war to be different or not we cannot say. But this we can say with certainty: A government and a society that silences those who dissent is one that has lost its way. Henry Steele Commager government judging war Change does not necessarily assure progress, but progress implacably requires change. Henry Steele Commager progress-and-change progress inspirational The greatest danger that threatens us is neither heterodox thought nor orthodox thought, but the absence of thought. Henry Steele Commager orthodox danger absence We should not be surprised that the Founding Fathers didn't foresee everything, when we see that the current Fathers hardly ever foresee anything. Henry Steele Commager currents should father In the long run [censorship] will create a generation incapable of appreciating the difference between independence of thought and subservience. Henry Steele Commager differences running long America was born of revolt, flourished in dissent, became great through experimentation. Henry Steele Commager libertarian liberty america The Americans who framed our Constitution felt that without freedom of religion no other freedom counted. Henry Steele Commager framed constitution atheism To yearn for a single, and usually simple, explanation of the chaotic materials of the past, to search for a single thread in that most tangled of all skeins, is a sign of immaturity. Henry Steele Commager tangled simple past History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it - as with these - life would be poorer and meaner; without it we should be denied some of those intellectual and moral experiences which give meaning and richness to life. Surely it is no accident that the study of history has been the solace of many of the noblest minds of every generation. Henry Steele Commager flower philosophy art
