Greg Lukianoff

Greg Lukianoff speaking in April 2015

Gregory Christopher Lukianoff (born 1974). Since 2006, he is the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

Quotes

• Words are supposed to hurt. That's considered a legitimate way of fighting things out. And what did it replace in the historical scene? It replaced actual violence. Words are supposed to be free so we CAN actually fight things out, in the battleplace of ideas, so we don't end up fighting them out in civil wars. If we try to legitimately ban anything can hurt someone's feelings, everyone is reduced to silence.
  • Speaking on Stossel (2009).

• Something that I would love to hear people say more are things like "To each his own", "Everyone's entitled to their opinion", "It's a free country". All these old idioms of a free people, I would like to see them make a comeback. And my fingers are crossed, my hopes aren't up, but long term I'm optimistic for free speech because, you know, free speech works. It is a tool for progress, peace, wisdom, authenticity. And I wouldn't bet against it. At least not in the long run.
  • "The Eternally Radical Idea" (at 1h10m31), Honestly with Bari Weiss, 27 July 2022.