Freedom for the Thought We Hate

Added on by C. Maoxian.

From Liva Baker’s interview on Booknotes:

“I thought [Oliver Wendell Holmes] was shouting all the time civil liberties, but he wasn't. There were only a few -- the famous one that the Constitution allows freedom of thought, not only for the thought that we agree with, but for the thought that we hate. For me, that's a rallying cry. I think that's wonderful. But he didn't say many things like that -- not as many as he was thought to have.“

She’s paraphrasing there… I can’t find the text of the dissent but found these (more paraphrases?):

“The most essential constitutional protection is not free thought for those who agree with us, but freedom for the thoughts we hate.”

“The Constitution protects not only the freedom for the thought and expression we agree with, but freedom for the thought we hate, the conduct and action we seriously dislike.”