Addressing inaugural session of the international conference on Freedom of Expression held at the library of Alexandria, Ismail Serageldin delivered a thoughtful and tempered address that does not leave much doubt as to his personal positions on the subject. In fact, he referred to it as the first freedom, from which all other freedoms flow, and the guarantor of democracy and human rights. Yet his reasoned speech also recognized he societal quandaries that all societies go through in trying to fashion those wise constraints that make people free! This conference, which bought together some 200 of the most important intellectuals in the Arab world and about 100 non-Arab guests, was co-sponsored by the Beacon for freedom project, the government of Norway, and the Arab Reform Forum.