You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free.

Darrow’s line expresses a reciprocal, non-zero-sum view of liberty: individual freedom is not secure when it depends on denying freedom to others. The first sentence frames civil liberties as interdependent—protecting one’s own rights requires defending the rights of those one may dislike or fear. The second sentence intensifies the claim into a moral and political axiom: freedom is relational, sustained by a shared legal and social commitment to equal rights. In Darrow’s broader public persona as a defense attorney and civil libertarian, the sentiment aligns with arguments against repression, scapegoating, and selective application of rights.