Under democracy individual liberty of opinion and action is jealously guarded.

We are determined to protect our freedom of speech and the right to speak our minds without fear of the politically correct thought-police knocking on our doors.

We should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe.

I think you will have to be very, very careful to have the regulations that will protect freedom.

I have no problem with that,” Van Grieken said. “Our freedom of expression is under pressure. We are no longer allowed to meet as we want. We are hardly allowed to share anything on social networks. This seems essential to me.

We must keep our thought secret, and judge everything by it, while talking like the people.

We face threats to freedom of expression if we are unable or unwilling to rise to the challenge of freedom of expression, when that freedom is exercised. We are all of us—especially those who gather at a book fair—quick to announce to the world that we’re champions of freedom of expression. But when we regard someone’s expression as offensive, why do we seek to silence them? Why is it not enough simply to condemn what they say as offensive and leave untouched their right to say it?

Most of us are for freedom of expression when there’s a danger that our own views will be suppressed. We’re not all that upset, though, when views we despise encounter a little censorship here and there.

I'm all in favour of free expression provided it's kept rigidly under control.

Intimidation and awe are how our rulers keep us respectful.

Freedom of expression is guaranteed by our constitution.

I think that we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death, unless they so imminently threaten immediate interference with the lawful and pressing purposes of the law that an immediate check is required to save the country.

Free speech. Freedom of association. These values are repulsive to the radical Islamic terrorist. They fear them and suppress them whenever and wherever they can. Yet through those very means, we as a society are protective of that terrorist’s rights. This is ironic, but good. Because, as you well know, America has a unique responsibility to set the global standard for liberty and fair conduct. The world looks to us to set high standards for freedom, and we take that leadership role very seriously. Our commitment to leading by example – on issues from human rights to free speech – is strong. Indeed, other countries strike a different balance between security and freedom, both in the activities they punish as crimes, and in the procedures with which they do so. In some instances, our allies have adopted or utilized some counterterrorism tools that we have not adopted in the United States because doing so would abridge the civil liberties protected by our constitution.

Freedom is a very dangerous thing. We ration it very closely.