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About this quote

What does it mean?
Laws cannot guarantee free speech; a tolerant population is needed for true expression.
In plain terms
Freedom needs a tolerant society, not just laws.
What can you take from it?
Cultivate tolerance to protect free expression.

Where it applies

  • political discourse
  • community building
  • activism

Putting it to work

  • listen to opponents
  • defend rights
  • promote dialogue

Questions to consider

  • How tolerant is your community?
  • What limits free speech?

Another view

Tolerance is hard to enforce without legal backing.

More from Albert Einstein

  1. It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.

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  2. Measured objectively, what a man can wrest from Truth by passionate striving is utterly infinitesimal. But the striving frees us from the bonds of the self and…

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  3. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer.

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