“The citizen who reads news regularly participates, perhaps without realizing it, in a constant civic engagement of ideas — the very stuff of self-governance.” — John Seigenthaler, First Amendment Center founder, 2007

“The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions.” — Adlai E. Stevenson, politician, 1952

“Give me liberty or give me death.” — Patrick Henry, statesman, 1775

“According to American principle and practice, the public is the ruler of the state, and in order to rule rightly, it should be informed correctly.” — William Randolph Hearst, Hearst Newspapers founder, 1954

“Did you ever hear anyone say, ‘That work had better be banned because I might read it and it might be very damaging to me’?” — Joseph Henry Jackson, critic, author, 1953

“Putting God on money has done little more than produce court rulings explaining how ‘In God We Trust’ has been drained of any religious meaning. Trusting in God is an act of faith, not a national slogan.” — Charles Haynes, First Amendment Center, 2007

“The press, like fire, is an excellent servant, but a terrible master.” — James Fenimore Cooper, author, 1838

“There is an amazing strength in the expression of the will of the people; and when it declares itself, even the imagination of those who wish to contest it is overawed.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian, 1840

“The history of the world is none other than the progress of the consciousness of freedom.” — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher, 1832

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