Libertarian Quotes - Page 36

• Communism is like one big phone company.

  Lenny Bruce

  Funny, Witty, Humorous

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• There are many farm handouts; but let's call them what they really are: a form of legalized theft. Essentially, a congressman tells his farm constituency, "Vote for me. I'll use my office to take another American's money and give it to you."

  Walter E. Williams

  Office, Giving, Liberty

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• A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. - Second Amendment to the Constitution An armed society is a polite society.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Gun, Libertarian Party, Assault Weapons

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• There is nothing so bad that politics cannot make it worse.

  Thomas Sowell

  Political, Liberty, Libertarianism

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• There never was a good war or a bad revolution.

  Edward Abbey

  Veterans Day, Peace, War

  Edward Abbey (1998). “The Fool's Progress: An Honest Novel”, p.140, Macmillan

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• Government can't give us anything without depriving us of something else.

  Henry Hazlitt

  Government, Giving, Political

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• Given man's nature, freedom will always be in jeopardy, and the only question that need concern each of us is if and how well we took our stand in its defense during the short period of time when we were potentially a part of the struggle.

  Benjamin A. Rogge

  Struggle, Men, Ifs And

  Benjamin A. Rogge (1979). “Can Capitalism Survive?”, Liberty Fund

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• A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years.

  Lysander Spooner

  Freedom, Men, Years

  Lysander Spooner (1973). “No Treason and a Letter to Thomas F. Bayard”

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• Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.

  Baron de Montesquieu

  Philosophical, Law, Liberty

  "The Spirit of the Laws". Treatise by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Book XXIX: Of the Manner of Composing Laws, Ch. 16: Things to be Observed in the Composing of Laws, 1748.

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• The essential psychological requirement of a free society is the willingness on the part of the individual to accept responsibility for his life. - Edith Packer
  When the government fears the people, it is liberty. When the people fear the government, it is tyranny.

  Thomas Paine

  Responsibility, Government, People

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• Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone.

  Frederic Bastiat

  Government, Second Amendment, Liberty

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• What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It's not good at much else.

  Tom Clancy

  Government, Libertarian Party, People

  "Kudlow & Cramer" Interview, September 02, 2003.

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• We cannot restore traditional American freedom unless we limit the government's power to tax. No tinkering with this, that, or the other law will stop the trend toward socialism. We must repeal the Sixteenth Amendment.

  Frank Chodorov

  Government, Law, Liberty

  Frank Chodorov (2007). “Income Tax: Root of All Evil”, p.10, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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• I'm in favor of legalizing drugs. According to my values system, if people want to kill themselves, they have every right to do so. Most of the harm that comes from drugs is because they are illegal.

  Milton Friedman

  People, Drug, Favors

  "‪If Ignorance Is Bliss, Why Aren't There More Happy People?". Book by John Mitchinson, p. 87, 2009.

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• The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.

  Charles Bukowski

  Trust, Order, Differences

  Charles Bukowski (2013). “The Most Beautiful Woman in Town”, p.190, City Lights Books

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• He always pictured himself a libertarian, which to my way of thinking means "I want the liberty to grow rich and you can have the liberty to starve". It's easy to believe that no one should depend on society for help when you yourself happen not to need such help.

  Isaac Asimov

  Believe, Mean, Thinking

  "I, Asimov: A Memoir". Book by Isaac Asimov, p. 308, 1994.

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• Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

  Ronald Reagan

  Business, Government, Presidential

  Ronald Reagan (2004). “Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches”, p.419, Simon and Schuster

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• One who uses coercion is guilty of deliberate violence. Coercion is inhuman.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Liberty, Use, Coercion

  Mahatma Gandhi, Anand T. Hingorani, Ganga Anand Hingorani (1985). “The Encyclopaedia of Gandhian Thoughts”

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• The cure for evil and disorder is more liberty, not suppression.

  Alexander Berkman

  Evil, Liberty, Disorder

  Alexander Berkman (2003). “What is Anarchism?”, p.234, AK Press

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• People never believe in volcanoes until the lava actually overtakes them.

  George Santayana

  Believe, Volcanoes, People

  George Santayana (2002). “The Works of George Santayana: The letters of George Santayana. 1921-1927. Vol. 5. Book 3”, p.138, MIT Press

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• The worst forms of tyranny, or certainly the most successful ones, are not those we rail against but those that so insinuate themselves into the imagery of our consciousness, and the fabric of our lives, as not to be perceived as tyranny.

  Michael Parenti

  Successful, Liberty, Fabric

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• Now that I look back, I realize that a life predicated on being obedient is a very comfortable life indeed. Living in such a way reduces to a minimum one's own need to think.

  Adolf Eichmann

  Thinking, Liberty, Needs

  "Why? New Eichmann Notes Try to Explain" by Roger Cohen, www.nytimes.com. August 13, 1999.

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• [S]tatism is but socialized dishonesty; it is feathering the nests of some with feathers coercively plucked from others - on the grand scale. There is no moral difference between the act of a pickpocket and the progressive income tax or any other social program.

  Leonard Read

  Differences, Liberty, Income

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• The present struggle seems less about abolishing big government than about who gets to use it.

  William Greider

  Struggle, Government, Liberty

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• The era of big government is over.

  William J. Clinton

  Government, Presidential, Liberty

  State of the Union Address, 23 Jan. 1996

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