"To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their own minds. They must be allowed to say, write and publish whatever they want. Freedom of expression is the most basic, but fundamental, right. Without it, human beings are reduced to automatons.“

-Ma Jian

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Ma Jian quote about freedom: "To become self-aware, people must be allowed to hear a plurality of opinions and then make up their ..."

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"My hope is that the Chinese government will come to realise that it is futile to repress free speech, and that contrary to what they believe a regime's strength rests not its suppression of a plurality of opinions and ideas, but in its capacity and willingness to encourage them."

-Ma Jian

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"I meant that the Chinese people are not aware of their own entrapment. They believe they live in a free society, but don't realize how much they are being monitored and controlled, how much the information they receive is restricted and warped, until they step out of line, that is, and feel the heavy hand of the state fall on them."

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"When history is erased, people's moral values are also erased."

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"How sweet it is!"

-Jackie Gleason

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"We don't believe in rheumatism and true love until after the first attack."

-Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

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"It's better to have loved and lost than to have to do forty pounds of laundry a week."

-Laurence J. Peter

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"Men must stop being jealous of their power and generously allow freedom and responsibility to others. The reward is harmonious families and society."

-Delphine de Girardin

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"Although we have, in theory, abolished human slavery, recognized women's rights, and stopped child labor, we continue to enslave other species who, if we simply pay attention, show quite clearly that they experience parental love, pain, and the desire for freedom, just as we do."

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"What is our freedom fight about? Is it about the liberation of children or just having sex with them?"

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"If I am outspoken of the dangers of intemperance to members of our armed forces, it is because we are all especially concerned for the welfare of those who are risking their lives in the cause of freedom."

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"We must guard against the overreaching hand of big government trying to take away our freedom. And we must always protect the environment in a manner consistent with our values."

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"The main thing I believe in is freedom."

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