Harry Browne Quotes - Page 2

Quotes about:

• Give government the weapons to fight your enemy and it will use them against you.

  Harry Browne

  Fighting, Government, Giving

  19 Copy quote

• If you ask the government to impose morality, then moral questions will be decided by whoever has the most political power.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Political, Morality

  12 Copy quote

• From the cranberry cancer scare of the 1950s to the Alar-in-apples hysteria of the 1980s, from the "new ice age" of the 1960s to the "global warming" of the 1990s, environmental alarms almost always turn out to be false. Few non-political scientists fear ozone loss, global warming, or acid rain. These are just issues that some people hope to use to reorder the lives of the rest of us.

  Harry Browne

  Cancer, Rain, Loss

  17 Copy quote

• There are no violent gangs fighting over aspirin territories. There are no violent gangs fighting over whisky territories or computer territories or anything else that's legal. There are only criminal gangs fighting over territories covering drugs, gambling, prostitution, and other victimless crimes. Making a non-violent activity a crime creates a black market, which attracts criminals and gangs, which turns what was once a relatively harmless activity affecting a small group of people into a widespread epidemic of drug use and gang warfare.

  Harry Browne

  Fighting, Drug Use, Epidemics

  11 Copy quote

• Once upon a time, government budgets were balanced, our money was sound, the streets were safe, and taxes imposed by all levels of government took less than 10% of our income.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Once Upon A Time, Liberty

  8 Copy quote

• The first step in freeing yourself from social restrictions is the realization that there is no such thing as a safe code of conduct - one that would earn everyone's approval. Your actions can always be condemned by someone - for being too bold or too apathetic, for being too conformist or too nonconformist, for being too liberal or too conservative. So it's necessary to decide whose approval is important to you.

  Harry Browne

  Important, Realization, Safe

  9 Copy quote

• In my experience, people who are truly compassionate rarely use the word "compassion." Those who do talk compassion generally intend to be compassionate with your money, not their own. It's wrong for someone to confiscate your money, give it to someone else, and call that 'compassion'.

  Harry Browne

  Compassion, People, Giving

  38 Copy quote

• Conservatives say the government can't end poverty by force, but they believe it can use force to make people moral. Liberals say government can't make people be moral, but they believe it can end poverty. Neither group attempts to explain why government is so clumsy and destructive in one area but a paragon of efficiency and benevolence in the other.

  Harry Browne

  Believe, Government, People

  25 Copy quote

• The free market punishes irresponsibility. Government rewards it.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Liberty, Libertarian

  "Liberty A to Z". Book by Harry Browne (p. 76), 2004.

  21 Copy quote

• The coercive power of government is always a beacon to those who want to dominate others -- summoning the worst dregs of society to Washington to use that power to impose their will upon others.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Use, Want

  21 Copy quote

• It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth - that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda.

  Harry Browne

  War, Firsts, Truth Is

  18 Copy quote

• You can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants.

  Harry Browne

  Libertarian Party, Government, Giving

  13 Copy quote

• It has long been apparent that many people in the media don't believe you're competent to make your own decisions.

  Harry Browne

  Believe, Media, Long

  22 Copy quote

• For those looking for security, be forewarned that there's nothing more insecure than a political promise.

  Harry Browne

  Insecure, Political, Promise

  61 Copy quote

• The American heritage was one of individual liberty, personal responsibility and freedom from government ... Unfortunately ... that heritage has been lost. Americans no longer have the freedom to direct their own lives ... Today, it is the government that is free - free to do whatever it wants. There is no subject, no issue, no matter ... that is not subject to legislation.

  Harry Browne

  Responsibility, Issues, Government

  29 Copy quote

• No one ever died from smoking marijuana, but millions of people have died by believing politicians.

  Harry Browne

  Believe, Marijuana, People

  "Liberty A to Z". p. 55. Book by Harry Browne, 2004.

  29 Copy quote

• Immigrants used to come to America seeking freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom from government. Now they come looking for free health care, free education, and a free lunch.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Free Education, Lunch

  30 Copy quote

• The government's War on Poverty has transformed poverty from a short-term misfortune into a career choice.

  Harry Browne

  War, Government, Careers

  38 Copy quote

• ...The Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn't say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a 'compelling interest' in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn't say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn't say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances.

  Harry Browne

  Thinking, Fbi Agents, Rights

  29 Copy quote

• In almost all matters, the real question should be: why are we letting government handle this?

  Harry Browne

  Letting Go, Real, Government

  30 Copy quote

• The seeds of today's runaway government were planted when it was decided that government should help those who can't help themselves. From that modest, compassionate beginning to today's out-of-control mega-state, there's a straight, unbroken line. Once the door was open, once it was settled that the government should help some people at the expense of others, there was no stopping it.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Doors, People

  9 Copy quote

• Give politicians power and it certainly will be abused eventually - if not by today's politicians, then by their successors.

  Harry Browne

  Giving, Political, Today

  19 Copy quote

• Libertarians know that a free country has nothing to fear from anyone coming in or going out - while a welfare state is scared to death of poor people coming in and rich people getting out.

  Harry Browne

  Country, People, Going Out

  20 Copy quote

• Republicans campaign like Libertarians and govern like Democrats.

  Harry Browne

  Liberty, Campaigns, Libertarian

  "Liberty A to Z". Book by Harry Browne (p. 151), 2004.

  18 Copy quote

• Once we realize that government doesn't work, we'll know that the only way to improve government is by reducing its size - by doing away with laws, by getting rid of programs, by making government spend and tax less, by reducing government as far as we can.

  Harry Browne

  Government, Law, Way

  7 Copy quote

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