As we like to do from time to time, here are some good quotations about the First Amendment:

“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.” — Mahatma Gandhi, Hindu leader, rights activist, 1942

“If there were Native American journalists in the past to say, ‘Wait, there is another side to this story,’ our history books would have been much different than they turned out to be.” — Tileena Leighton, student, 2008

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.” — Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president, 1859

“To censor is to destroy, or at least to oppose the process of reality.” — Federico Fellini, Italian filmmaker, 1977

“A free press needs access to public information in order to do its job of informing the people.” — Douglas Lee, attorney, 2007

“We live in an age when silence is not only criminal but suicidal. If they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us at night.” — James Baldwin, author, 1971

“The liberty enjoyed by the people of these States of worshipping Almight God, agreeably to their consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their right.” — George Washington, 1st U.S. president, 1789

“Freedom of the press is fundamental to our democracy and it is fundamental to our security.” — Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, D-Calif., 2007

“Upon a great religious or political question, the opinion of the dullest head in the world is worth the same as the opinion of the brightest head in the world — a brass farthing.” — Mark Twain, writer, humorist, 1907

— Quotes from First Amendment Calendar, produced by the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center, 2009