"Liberty has restraints but no frontiers"
About this Quote
The phrasing is doing quiet political work. "Restraints" suggests self-government, law, and civic responsibility - the kind of freedom that requires institutions and limits, not just slogans. It flatters a parliamentary audience: we are mature enough to regulate ourselves. Then "no frontiers" lifts liberty out of the nation-state, turning it into a moral currency that can justify action beyond borders. That can sound noble (solidarity with oppressed peoples), but it also contains the seed of mission creep: if liberty knows no frontiers, neither might the state's sense of obligation or entitlement to act in its name.
The subtext is strategic universalism. Lloyd George isn't dissolving borders so much as moralizing them: national boundaries may exist, but they should not be allowed to define whose freedom counts. In an era of nationalism and redrawn maps, the sentence tries to make liberal democracy feel like the only story big enough to survive the century's violence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
George, David Lloyd. (2026, January 17). Liberty has restraints but no frontiers. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/liberty-has-restraints-but-no-frontiers-38274/
Chicago Style
George, David Lloyd. "Liberty has restraints but no frontiers." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/liberty-has-restraints-but-no-frontiers-38274/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Liberty has restraints but no frontiers." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/liberty-has-restraints-but-no-frontiers-38274/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










