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The compelling reason why, if liberty of opinion did not exist, we should have to invent it, why it will eventually have to be restored in all civilized countries where it is now suppressed, is that we must protect the right of our opponents to speak because we must hear what they have to say.
倘若并不存在舆论自由，我们何以非得无中生有，何以这种自由在现今受到压制的所有文明国度中最终非得恢复，令人信服的理由就在于，因为我们必须听到反对者非要说什么，所以我们才必须保护他们的权利。
We miss the whole point when we imagine that we tolerate the freedom of our political opponents as we tolerate a howling baby next door, as we put up with the blasts from our neighbor's radio because we are too peaceable to heave a brick through the window. If this were all there is to freedom of opinion, that we are too good natured or too timid to do anything about our opponents and our critics except to let them talk, it would be difficult to say whether we are tolerant because we are magnanimous or because we are lazy, because we have strong principles or because we lack serious convictions, whether we have the hospitality of an inquiring mind or the indifference of an empty mind. And so, if we truly wish to understand why freedom is necessary in a civilized society, we must begin by realizing that, because freedom of discussion improves our own opinions, the liberties of other men are our own vital necessity.
假如我们容忍政敌的自由就像容忍隔壁号啕大哭的婴儿那样，就像忍受邻居收音机的轰鸣那样，因为我们太讲究太平而不会扔石头砸破窗户，那么我们就是不得要领。假如这就是言论自由的全部含义，也就是说我们太和善或太胆怯，只能束手无策地听任我们的反对者和批评者发表言论，那么就难以说淸，我们宽容是由于我们大度还是懈怠，是由于抱着坚定的原则还是缺乏严肃的信念，是由于我们对探索的头脑抱以善意还是对空洞的头脑漠然置之。因此，如果我们真正希望理解一个文明社会中必然要有自由的道理，我们必须首先认识到，讨论的自由改进了我们自己的见解，所以他人的自由权利乃是我们自身重要的需要。
We are much closer to the essence of the matter, not when we quote Voltaire, but when we go to the doctor and pay him to ask us the most embarrassing questions and to prescribe the most disagreeable diet. When we pay the doctor to exercise complete freedom of speech about the cause and cure of our stomachache, we do not look upon ourselves as tolerant and magnanimous, and worthy to be admired by ourselves. We have enough common sense to know that if we threaten to put the doctor in jail because we do not like the diagnosis and the prescription it will be unpleasant for the doctor, to be sure, but equally unpleasant for our own stomachache.
我们更加接近问题实质的时候并不是引述伏尔泰的话，而是我们求医看病，付钱给他，请他问我们一些最令人尴尬的问题，并且请他开出最讨厌的医嘱饮食。我们付钱请医生行使充分的言论自由，让他说明胃痛起因，对症下药，这时我们并不觉得自己宽容大度，值得自我钦佩。我们具有充分的常识，懂得要是因为不喜欢医生的诊断和处方而以关进监狱相威逼，那么可以肯定，不仅医生感到不快，而且对我们的胃痛也没有好处。
