Libertarianism Quotes

• The difference between libertarianism and socialism is that libertarians will tolerate the existence of a socialist community, but socialists can't tolerate a libertarian community.

  David Boaz

  Differences, Community, Liberty

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• In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Freedom, Political Will, Order

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• Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

  William Penn

  Thinking, Democracies Have, People

  Benjamin Franklin, William Penn (2012). “Franklin's Way to Wealth and Penn's Maxims”, p.51, Courier Corporation

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• A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being for any reason whatever; nor will a libertarian advocate the initiation of force, or delegate it to anyone else. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim.

  L. Neil Smith

  Believe, Liberty, Principles

  "What Libertarians Believe" by L. Neil Smith and Rylla Cathryn Smith, www.ncc-1776.org. January 4, 2009.

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• Any president that lies to the American people should have to resign.

  William J. Clinton

  Lying, Should Have, People

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• Since outright slavery has been discredited, "democracy" is the only remaining rationale for state compulsion that most people will accept.

  Joseph Sobran

  People, Democracy, Liberty

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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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• When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.

  Donald James

  Truth, Lying, Democracies Have

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• If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Inspirational, Humor, Thinking

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut”, p.228, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Patriotism means loving our country, not the government.

  Mike Cloud

  Country, Mean, Government

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• Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic.

  Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

  Freedom, Government, Democracy

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• One of the things the government can't do is run anything. The only things our government runs are the post office and the railroads, and both of them are bankrupt.

  Lee Iacocca

  Running, Government, Office

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• A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.

  G. Gordon Liddy

  Inspirational, Funny, Money

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• I personally call the type of government which can be removed without violence 'democracy,' and the other, 'tyranny.'.

  Karl Popper

  Freedom, Government, Democracy

  Karl Raimund Popper (2002). “Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge”, p.464, Psychology Press

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• Our democracy is but a name. We vote? What does that mean? It means that we choose between two bodies of real, though not avowed, autocrats. We choose between Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

  Helen Keller

  Freedom, Real, Mean

  Helen Keller (2011). “To Live, to Think, to Hope: Inspirational Quotes by Helen Keller”, p.68, Matthew Gordon

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• Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

  Patrick Henry

  Death, Sweet, Freedom

  Speech in Virginia Convention, Richmond, Va., 23 Mar. 1775.

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• One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Inspirational, Believe, Responsibility

  "Housewives, Sure, but What Makes Them Real?" by Neil Genzlinger, www.nytimes.com. May 15, 2011.

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• Errors of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Education, Patriotic, Free Opinion

  First Inaugural Address, 4 Mar. 1801

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• Talk is cheap - except when Congress does it.

  Cullen Hightower

  Government, Political, Liberty

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• A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.

  Alexander Fraser Tytler

  Freedom, Democracies Have, Government

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• No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.

  Mark Twain

  Life, Trust, Freedom

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• It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Government, Effort, Sloth

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.36, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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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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• In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.

  Edward Gibbon

  Wisdom, Responsibility, Libertarian Party

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  The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.

  Ayn Rand

  Philosophy, Humor, Rights

  Ayn Rand (1964). “The Virtue of Selfishness”, p.125, Penguin

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