Libertarian Quotes - Page 39

• War does not determine who is right - only who is left.

  Bertrand Russell

  Peace, Military, War

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• Socialists make the mistake of confusing individual worth with success. They believe you cannot allow people to succeed in case those who fail feel worthless.

  Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking

  Mistake, Believe, People

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• It must never be unpatriotic to support your country against your government. It must always be unpatriotic to support your government against your country.

  Steven T. Byington

  Country, Government, Support

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• The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible.

  George Washington

  Political, Liberty, Connections

  George Washington, J. M. Williams (1800). “Washington's political legacies: To which is annexed an appendix, containing an account of his illness, death, and the national tributes of respect paid to his memory, with a biographical outline of his life and character”, p.90

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• To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government Debt, Independence, Liberty

  Thomas Jefferson, Jean M. Yarbrough (1963). “The Essential Jefferson”, p.242, Hackett Publishing

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• I have sworn upon the altar of God Eternal, hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Change, Religious, Men

  Letter to Benjamin Rush, 23 Sept. 1800

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• Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Hurt, Lying, Religion

  "Time Enough for Love". Book by Robert A. Heinlein, 1973.

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• Republicans don't want anyone having more fun than they do, and the Democrats don't want anyone making more money than they do. Libertarians want you to make money and have fun.

  Andre Marrou

  Fun, Liberty, Want

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• Government control gives rise to fraud, suppression of Truth, intensification of the black market and artificial scarcity. Above all, it unmans the people and deprives them of initiative, it undoes the teaching of self-help.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Teaching, Government, Self

  "Delhi Diary". Book by Mahatma Gandhi, pp. 68-70, March 1948.

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• Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Strength, Hope, Peace

  Speech in House of Representatives, 12 Jan. 1848

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• I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.

  Ronald Reagan

  Independent, Men, Law

  Ronald Reagan, Michael Reagan (2016). “The Last Best Hope: The Greatest Speeches of Ronald Reagan”, p.226, Humanix Books

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• What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.

  H. L. Mencken

  Leadership, Men, Rights

  H.L. Mencken (2013). “Minority Report”, p.34, Knopf

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• Republicans campaign like Libertarians and govern like Democrats.

  Harry Browne

  Liberty, Campaigns, Republican

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

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• It is indeed a singular thing that people wish to pass laws to nullify the disagreeable consequences that the law of responsibility entails. Will they never realize that they do not eliminate these consequences but merely pass them along to other people? The result is one injustice the more and one moral the less.

  Frederic Bastiat

  Responsibility, Law, People

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• The highwayman takes solely upon himself the responsibility, danger, and crime of his own act. He does not pretend that he has any rightful claim to your money, or that he intends to use it for your own benefit ... Furthermore, having taken your money, he leaves you, as you wish him to do ... He does not keep "protecting" you by commanding you to bow down and serve him; by requiring you to do this, and forbidding you to do that.

  Lysander Spooner

  Taken, Responsibility, Liberty

  "No Treason" by Lysander Spooner, No. VI: The Constitution of No Authority, 1870.

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• Man, no doubt, owes many other moral duties to his fellow men; such as to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, protect the defenseless, assist the weak, and enlighten the ignorant. But these are simply moral duties, of which each man must be his own judge, in each particular case, as to whether, and how, and how far, he can, or will perform them.

  Lysander Spooner

  Men, Sick, Judging

  Lysander Spooner (1882). “Natural Law, Or, The Science of Justice: A Treatise on Natural Law, Natural Justice, Natural Rights, Natural Liberty, and Natural Society : Showing that All Legislation Whatsoever is an Absurdity, a Usurpation, and a Crime”

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• The government's only proper job is to protect individual rights against violence by force or fraud ... to protect men from foreign invaders ... to settle disputes among men according to objective laws ... The greatness of the Founding Fathers was how well they understood this issue and how close some of them came to understanding it perfectly.

  Ayn Rand

  Jobs, Father, Greatness

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• The [U.S.] Constitution is a limitation on the government, not on private individuals ... it does not prescribe the conduct of private individuals, only the conduct of the government ... it is not a charter for government power, but a charter of the citizen's protection against the government.

  Ayn Rand

  Government, Liberty, Doe

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• It is easy to be conspicuously 'compassionate' if others are being forced to pay the cost.

  Murray Rothbard

  Liberty, Cost, Pay

  Murray Rothbard (2009). “Review of Austrian Economics, Volume 8”, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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• There are just two rules of governance in a free society: Mind your own business. Keep your hands to yourself.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Hands, Two, Mind Your Own Business

  "The Liberty Manifesto". P. J. O'Rourke's Speech for the opening of the Cato Institute's headquarters in Washington, D.C., May 6, 1993.

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• No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: 'But what would you replace it with?' When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with?

  Thomas Sowell

  Fire, Liberty, Matter

  Thomas Sowell (1993). “Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays”, Hoover Inst Press

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• The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.

  Mark Skousen

  Liberty, Triumph, Persuasion

  "Civilization Held Together by Persuasion, Not Force". The Religion & Liberty Interview, acton.org. July 20, 2010.

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• We must have government, but we must watch them like a hawk.

  Millicent Fenwick

  Government, Liberty, Watches

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• The single most exciting thing you encounter in government is competence, because it's so rare.

  Daniel Patrick Moynihan

  Government, Political, Liberty

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• Perhaps the removal of trade restrictions throughout the world would do more for the cause of universal peace than can any political union of peoples separated by trade barriers.

  Frank Chodorov

  Political, Liberty, World

  Frank Chodorov (1959). “The Rise & Fall of Society”, p.54, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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