Against censorship

"The matter of books seems to be a thing of small moment, because it treats of words, but through these words come opinions into the world, which cause partialities, seditions and finally wars. They are words, it is true, but such as in consequence draw after them hosts of armed men"
Paolo Sarpi (1552-1632), History of the Inquisition, 1613


"who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God's image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye"
John Milton (1608-1674), "Areopagitica", 1644


"That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of the liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic government"
Constitution of the State of Virginia, June the 29th, 1776


"In countries where the doctrine of the sovereignty of the people ostensibly prevails, the censorship of the press is not only dangerous, but absurd."
Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), De la démocratie en Amérique", 1835-1840