"Security without liberty is called prison"

“Security without liberty is called prison” is a saying that has been printed on many images. The saying as usually been credited to Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American polymath and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Franklin said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” but he did not say this.

“Security without liberty is prison” was a letter by Spencer Price of Provo printed in the Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT) on December 22, 2005. “RT @AlieGirl7: ‘Security without liberty is called prison.’ — Benjamin Franklin” was posted on Twitter by Becca Bbop on May 18, 2011. “Security without liberty is prison” was posted on Twitter by Tony Sparks on October 2, 2011.

“I would reiterate to you the words of one of our government’s primary founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said, ‘Distrust and caution are the parents of security.’ Again, he also said, ‘Security without liberty is called prison’” was said by American martial artist and actor Chuck Norris on May 5, 2015.

“Security without Liberty is called prison”—credited to Benjamin Franklin—was printed on a sign during Operation Gridlock, a protest in Lansing, Michigan, on April 15, 2020, of Michigan’s lockdown restrictions during the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.

Wikipedia: 2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019, and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020.

22 December 2005, Deseret News (Salt Lake City, UT), “Fight for our liberties,” pg. A14:
If our elected officials ask us to stand up in this fight, they must ask us to fight for our liberties. We will fight those who seek to take away the liberties we have, but we will not concede them in order to be more secure. Security without liberty is prison.
Spencer Price
Provo

Twitter
Becca Bbop
@Becca_Bbop
RT @AlieGirl7: “Security without liberty is called prison.”
— Benjamin Franklin
2:29 AM · May 18, 2011·Twitter for iPhone

Twitter
Benjamin Franklin
@FoundingBroBen
Security without liberty is called prison. #patriotact #surveillance
4:09 PM · May 22, 2011·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
...
@UcMeBallin
One of my favorite quotes: “security without liberty is called prison.” -Ben Franklin
12:23 AM · May 26, 2011·Twitter for iPhone

Twitter
Tony Sparks
@WarWizard
Security without liberty is prison
11:10 AM · Oct 2, 2011·Twitter Web Client

Twitter
Emmanuel
@Doctor_Johnson_
Security without liberty is prison
9:11 PM · Jan 6, 2012·Twitter for iPhone

Twitter
New School Brewing
@AreYouWyse
Security without liberty is prison. A person willing to give up liberty for security should be entitled to neither.”- Benjamin Franklin
7:33 PM · May 18, 2012·Facebook

Google Books
Benjamin Franklin:
His Words
Daniel Coenn
Munich, Germany: BookRix
2014
Pg. ?:
“Security without liberty is called prison.”

Breitbart
Chuck Norris: ‘Tough Questions’ Should Be Asked About Operation Jade Helm
by ROB MILFORD 5 May 2015
Chuck Norris needs no introduction.
(...)
“To those who merely think we should check our brains at the door of the White House and trust what the government does, I would reiterate to you the words of one of our government’s primary founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said, ‘Distrust and caution are the parents of security.’ Again, he also said, ‘Security without liberty is called prison.’

5 May 2015, Phil’s Stock World, “Chuck Norris Pledges To Protect Texas From Federal Invasion” (online):
To those who merely think we should check our brains at the door of the White House and trust what the government does, I would reiterate to you the words of one of our government’s primary founders, Benjamin Franklin, who said, “Distrust and caution are the parents of security.” Again, he also said, “Security without liberty is called prison.” But then again, I’m sure some today would accuse Franklin of being conspiratorial, too!

Twitter
Downtown Joe
@DowntownJoe
“Security without Liberty is called prison.”
#OperationGridlock
12:15 PM · Apr 15, 2020·Twitter for Android

USA Today
Thousands converge to protest Michigan governor’s stay-home order in ‘Operation Gridlock’
Paul Egan
Kara Berg
USA TODAY NETWORK
Published 3:17 p.m. ET April. 15, 2020
LANSING, Mich. – Demonstrators drove thousands of vehicles – many draped with protest signs – to Michigan’s state Capitol on Wednesday, loudly protesting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order intended to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
(...)
“Liberty once lost is lost forever,” read a sign draped across a commercial van. “Security without liberty is called prison,” read another, stretched across the Capitol’s front lawn. “Recall Whitmer,” a third sign said.

15 April 2020, CNN Wire Service, “Did Gretchen Whitmer go too far in her coronavirus quarantine?” by Chris Cillizza:
Thousands of cars descended on Michigan’s state capitol building in Lansing on Wednesday in an organized protest against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s latest guidance on how citizens needed to deal with the ongoing threat posed by the coronavirus.

As the Detroit Free-Press reported of the effort—known as “Operation Gridlock”:
(...)
“‘Liberty once lost is lost forever,’ read a sign draped across a commercial van. ‘Security without liberty is called prison,’ read another, stretched across the Capitol’s front lawn. ‘Recall Whitmer,’ a third sign said.”

Twitter
Sal the Agorist
@SallyMayweather
Security without liberty is prison.
11:58 PM · Apr 15, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

16 April 2020, Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer, “‘I’m just ready to go back to work’: Thousands converge on Lansing to protest Whitmer’s stay home order” by Paul Egan and Kara Berg, pg. A4:
LANSING – Demonstrators drove thousands of vehicles – many draped with protest signs – to Michigan’s state Capitol Wednesday, loudly protesting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home order intended to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Police watched as horns honked and commercial and private vehicles from around the state jammed Capitol Avenue and other streets surrounding Michigan’s seat of government.

“Liberty once lost is lost forever,” read a sign draped across a commercial van. “Security without liberty is called prison,” read another, stretched across the Capitol’s front lawn. “Recall Whitmer,” a third sign said.

Twitter
美国华人之声
@huarenzhisheng
Security without LIBERTY is called Prison!
— Benjamin Franklin
富兰克林就像是美国的孔子，有着无数的著名格言
Franklin is like Confucius in the United States, with countless famous mottos
3:50 PM · Apr 17, 2020·Twitter for iPhone