Quotes about Censorship

[C]ensorship in any form is the opening wedge for fascism, since it places arbitrary and unwarranted power in the hands of individuals.

When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know," the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything—you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.

If none of us ever read a book that was
'dangerous,' nor had a friend who was 'different,' or never joined an
organization that advocated 'change,' we would all be just the kind of
people Joe McCarthy wants.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

"Censors are necessary, increasingly necessary, if America is to avoid having a vital literature."

Without censorship, things can get terribly confused in the public mind.

Literature should not be suppressed merely because it offends the moral code of the censor.

As a matter of constitutional tradition, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, we presume that governmental regulation of the content of speech is more likely to interfere with the free exchange of ideas than to encourage it. The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.

How can you censor my thoughts? What is right, what is not? How is it you decide, What I should feel inside?

As for garden photographers, how differently they see things. With what ease the camera seems to compose a picture of great beauty with its discriminating lens. The naked eye can't censor some ugly sight on the periphery of vision; the photographer takes the perfect shot and picks for us just what we need to see.

Censorship is almost systematically the weapon of first resort for governments in uncertain political situations. So not only are the famous writers and bold journalists in danger; at every level of public and private life, the freedoms to think, read or write are denied. In the absence of a free press, other human rights abuses flourish unabated. Nothing is reported, criticized, questioned. The example of imprisonment, torture or execution imposes a further silence. A blindly obedient mob mentality is encouraged, driven by extremist religious or ethnic loyalties. The citizens do not know what is happening. Fear and ignorance permeate discussion.

I believe in censorship. After all, I made a fortune out of it.

The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it.

The Net interprets censorship as damage . . . and routes around it.

A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to.

Assassination is the extreme form of censorship.

Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody can read.

Censorship, like charity, should begin at home, but unlike charity, it should end there.

Censor: A self-appointed snoophound who sticks his nose in other people's business.

Pontius Pilate was the first great censor, and Jesus Christ the first great victim of censorship.