[Ads-l] Quote Origin: Freedom -- No Price That Is Ever Asked for It Is Half the Cost of Doing Without It

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The statement in the subject line has been attributed to the Sage of
Baltimore. I was asked to locate a citation, if one exists.

In 1924 H. L. Mencken published the collection "Prejudices Fourth
Series" which contained the following:

[ref] 1924 Copyright, Prejudices Fourth Series by H. L. Mencken,
Chapter 1: The American Tradition, Quote Page 18 to 20, Borzoi: Alfred
A. Knopf, New York. (Google Books Full View) link [/ref]
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Prejudices_Fourth_Series/n9WzKBCXltgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22no%20price%22

[Begin excerpt]
The ancient American tradition, in so far as it was vital and
productive and civilized, was obviously a tradition of individualism
and revolt, not of herd-morality and conformity ...

In brief, we must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price
that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it.
[End excerpt]

Here is a link to the QI article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/10/14/freedom-price/

Feedback welcome,
Garson O'Toole

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