The 50 best phrases about censorship

Censorship is a form of repressive control that is usually exercised by corrupt powers, such as governments, companies or a certain sector of society. This occurs when they are threatened by a person or a group that questions their ideals or their way of acting, generating discontent and rebellions that seek a better response, but are silenced by said repression.

Freedom of expression is a right that we all have and although it is necessary to first analyze what we will say, a person who dares to express an opinion or question the status quo should never be silenced. That's why we bring a compilation of the most outstanding phrases about censorship.

The most interesting phrases about censorship

These quotes and reflections on censorship help to understand all the implications of this way of limiting people's freedom.

1. The force of public opinion is irresistible when it is allowed to express itself freely. (Thomas Jefferson)

When everyone comes together for a cause, it is difficult for it not to have the results you are looking for.

2. You have the right to freely express everything you are allowed to say. (Roger Wolfe)

Freedom also has its responsibility, not to harm third parties.

3. Journalism is the most complex web of lies ever invented. (Kurt Tuchholsky)

Not all journalism works towards informing people about the truth.

4. When someone uses her religion to curtail the rights of other people by calling for hatred, that is not freedom of expression: it is violence... (Daniel Arzola)

Those who use their beliefs to attack others become oppressors.

• Related article: "What is Political Psychology?"

5. All dictatorships, left and right, practice censorship and use blackmail, intimidation or bribery to control the flow of information. (Mario Vargas Llosa)

Censorship is not exclusive to one sector or another.

6. Every injury, every violation of the creative life of the theater is a crime. (Konstantin Sergeevich Stanislavski)

Theater is a form of expression and as such, it can also become a threat.

7. In countries and times where communication is impeded, all other liberties soon wither away. Discussion starves, ignorance of the opinion of others becomes rampant, imposed opinions triumph. (Cousin Levi)

Censorship of something snowballs to stifle the rest of the freedoms.

8. People demand freedom of expression as compensation for the freedom of thought that they rarely used. (Soren Kierkegaard)

Who is not responsible for his words, must abide by their consequences.

9. The democratic health of a country can be measured by evaluating the diversity of opinions, freedom of expression and the critical spirit of its various media. (Mario Vargas Llosa)

Another of the phrases about censorship in which the ideal of the country to be achieved is discussed; a State is free when everyone can be heard.

10. You can censure a friend in confidence, but you must praise him in front of others. (Leonardo da Vinci)

There are corrections that can only be said or done in private.

11. Freedom of expression must find a middle ground between naive universalism and absolute relativism. (Manuel Gameros)

The freedom of expression It is not debauchery nor to say everything without having responsibility for it.

12. Humanity progresses. Today he only burns my books; Centuries ago they would have burned me. (Sigmund Freud)

A critique of the famous book burning in Germany, encouraged by the Nazi regime.

13. Language, the word, is one more form of power, one of the many that has been forbidden to us. (Victoria Sau)

The expression is a threat because it can uncover the truth that the powers want to hide.

14. What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, that ceases to exist. (Salman Rushdie)

Many offenses are subjective, when a message is taken personally.

15. There is a worrying increase in online censorship in governments. (Eric Schmidt)

Now censorship is also on the web, which should be the maximum freedom.

16. By censoring the unconscious and implanting consciousness, the superego also censors the censor, because the A developed conscience registers the forbidden evil act not only in the individual but also in his society. (Herbert Marcuse)

We too can censor ourselves when we seek to be someone else.

17. Is it that you have seen any censor who is not stupid? (Francisco Franco Bahamonde)

Every repressor has only his power to support him, without that, he is nothing, nor anyone.

18. Words of encouragement after censorship are like the sun after a downpour. (Johann Wolfgang Goethe)

That's why it's important to surround ourselves with positive people.

19. If they take away our freedom of expression we remain mute and silent and they can lead us like sheep to the slaughter. (George Washington)

We become part of the oppressive current.

20. Freedom of expression is saying what people don't want to hear. (George Orwell)

The truth hurts and is uncomfortable, but that is no reason to silence it.

21. Journalism keeps citizens warned, whores warned and the government restless. (Francisco Threshold)

Journalism should be the primary source of information for people and warning for governments.

22. If we don't believe in free speech for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. (Noam Chomsky)

Freedom should be for everyone, as long as it does not do irreparable damage to third parties.

• You may be interested in: "The 5 types of dictatorship"

23. All censorship is dangerous because it stops the cultural development of a people. (Mercedes Sosa)

It is the best way to make a people remain ignorant.

24. In countries where repression prevails, the writer must not censor himself or give up. (Nadine Gordimer)

It is especially the writers and journalists who become enemies of power.

25. Nothing is easier than censoring the dead. (Julius Caesar)

Who can not defend themselves, will end up being mercilessly cancelled.

26. There is nothing more for man than a true misfortune: incurring a mistake and having reason for censure against himself. (Jean de la Bruyere)

When there is censorship, one's own ideas become an almost certain sentence.

27. The voice has power, people listen when we speak; It is not about fighting terrorism with violence but with words. (Malala Yousafzai)

The attacks are always on freedom of expression because this is the best weapon of all for change.

28. Do not write as a journalist, what you cannot sustain as a man. (Francisco Zarco)

Saying something implies a great responsibility for what that message can generate, be it true or false.

29. In times like this we need more freedom of expression, a strong and critical press, and citizens who are not afraid to stand up and say that the emperor has no clothes. (Michael Moore)

The world can only change when we stop fearing the great powers.

30. Freedom of expression carries with it a certain freedom to listen. (Bob Marley)

The big problem with censorship and cancellation is that we refuse to listen to other people's opinions.

31. I think censorship makes people take a better look at things. (Mike Dirnt)

The more censorship there is, the more a wrong point is established of a power that must go.

32. Secrecy, censorship, dishonesty and communication blocking threaten all basic needs. (Abraham Maslow)

If communicating is a right, censorship is a clear violation of freedom.

33. No one can censor or condemn another, because no one knows the other perfectly. (Thomas Browne)

How can we condemn someone for having their own vision of the world?

34. There are few people sane enough to prefer profitable censure to treacherous praise. (François de la Rochefoucauld)

When there are favors or a 'comfortable' life for some, repression ceases to be important for others.

35. Thanks to freedom of expression, today it is already possible to say that a ruler is useless without anything happening to us. Neither does the ruler. (Jaume Perich)

Now we just have to remember that our voices are powerful to create change.

36. Journalism is free or it is a farce. (Rudolph Walsh)

Unfortunately, the powers that be can buy a good image for journalism that should be transparent.

37. In a truly free State, thought and word must be free. (Suetonius)

There can be no freedom in a town, if there is a censorship of everything that criticizes its way of acting.

38. If you believe in free speech then you believe in free speech for views you don't like. (Noam Chomsky)

Everyone deserves to express their opinions, even if they are different from yours.

39. Of all regime changes, the only one that the political orator really fears is the one that prevents him from speaking. (Albert Guinnon)

Politicians come to power because they can give an attractive speech to the people, even if it turns out to be a lie.

40. Men are very strange creatures: half censor what they practice, the other half practice what they censor. (Benjamin Franklin)

A clear result when people believe they are absolutely right.

41. You complain about the censures of your teachers, emulators and adversaries, when you should be grateful for them. His blows do not hurt you; they sculpt you (Santiago Ramon y Cajal)

Difficulties make us stronger, they teach us who we should trust and who we should push away.

42. There comes a time when one must take a position that is not safe, political, or popular, but one must take it because it is correct. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Sometimes the right thing is to go against an oppressive current, even if it is normalized.

43. There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running around with lit matches. (Ray Bradbury)

One form of repression is the impediment to read books, as in World War II.

• Related article: "The best phrases of Freedom"

44. The first condition of progress is the removal of censorship. (George Bernard Shaw)

No society can advance if there is a group that is discriminated against.

45. Whoever wishes to overthrow the freedom of a nation must begin by subjugating freedom of expression. (Benjamin Franklin)

There can be no freedom of expression if only the opinion of a single group is heard.

46. Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are right. (Sir Laurens Van Der Post)

Those who believe they are right may do the unthinkable to prevent others from being heard.

47. Only oppression should fear the full exercise of freedom. (Jose Marti)

Repression is a way of frightening freedom.

48. When the truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie. (Yevgeny Yevtushenko)

Not only are oppressors those who abuse their power, but also those who decide to remain silent.

49. Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. (Potter Stewart)

Why are we so afraid of opinions different from our own?

50. Let's be clear: censorship is cowardice... Mask corruption. (Pablo Antonio Cuadra)

It is a form of repression against those who are a threat to power.