Jeff Cooper Quotes

Quotes about:

Country Crime Democracy Evil Fighting Firearms Gun Control

The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.

Jeff Cooper

Men, Gun, Evil

1689 Copy quote
If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim.

Jeff Cooper

Judging, Police, Doe

Jeff Cooper (2006). “Principles of Personal Defense: Revised Edition”, p.44, Paladin Press

405 Copy quote
An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.

Jeff Cooper

Military, Men, Gun

247 Copy quote
That is why our masters in Washington are so anxious to disarm us. They are not afraid of criminals. They are afraid of a populace which cannot be subdued by tyrants.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Tyrants, Criminals

"Jeff Cooper's Commentaries", Vol. 2, No. 5, May 1994.

167 Copy quote
Blessed are those who, in the face of death, think only about the front sight.

Jeff Cooper

Blessed, Thinking, Sight

193 Copy quote
The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory.

Jeff Cooper

Family, Gun, Police

213 Copy quote
Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Jeff Cooper

Inspirational, Guitar, Owning A Home

236 Copy quote
Fight back! Whenever you are offered violence, fight back! The aggressor does not fear the law, so he must be taught to fear you. Whatever the risk, and at whatever the cost, fight back!

Jeff Cooper

Fighting, Law, Risk

212 Copy quote
Political correctness is neither political nor is it correct. It amounts to social censorship, and the sooner we spit it out, the better.

Jeff Cooper

Political, Censorship, Social

204 Copy quote
One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that 'violence begets violence.' I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure - and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

Jeff Cooper

Heart, Gun, Men

"Cooper Vs. Terrorism" by Jeff Cooper, www.sightm1911.com.

170 Copy quote
The only acceptable response to the threat of lethal violence is immediate and savage counterattack. If you resist, you just may get killed. If you don't resist you almost certainly will get killed. It is a tough choice, but there is only one right answer.

Jeff Cooper

Choices, Savages, Answers

130 Copy quote
It appears that the murder rate inside prisons is ten times higher than that outside prisons. It must be due to all those Kalashnikov rifles that are issued to prisoners upon their incarceration.

Jeff Cooper

Rifles, Prison, Murder

203 Copy quote
A smart man only believes half of what he hears, a wise man knows which half.

Jeff Cooper

Wise, Wisdom, Smart

156 Copy quote
If you don't understand weapons you don't understand fighting. If you don't understand fighting you don't understand war. If you don't understand war you don't understand history. And if you don't understand history you might as well live with your head in a sack.

Jeff Cooper

War, Fighting, Might

158 Copy quote
Observe your cat. It is difficult to surprise him. Why? Naturally his superior hearing is part of the answer, but not all of it. He moves well, using his senses fully. He is not preoccupied with irrelevancies. He's not thinking about his job or his image or his income tax. He is putting first things first, principally his physical security. Do likewise.

Jeff Cooper

Jobs, Moving, Cat

Jeff Cooper (2006). “Principles of Personal Defense: Revised Edition”, p.14, Paladin Press

159 Copy quote
The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed society would be a crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that if you take all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem, whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a gun problem.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Media, Criminals

"Jeff Cooper's Commentaries", Vol. 2, No. 5, May 1994.

45 Copy quote
Remember the first rule of gunfighting ... have a gun.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Firsts, Remember

61 Copy quote
Pick up a rifle and you change instantly from a subject to a citizen.

Jeff Cooper

Rifles, Citizens, Subjects

70 Copy quote
What are we going to do if citizens are disarmed, and the government doesn't obey its own laws?

Jeff Cooper

Government, Law, Citizens

99 Copy quote
Not long ago it was easy to tell who the bad guys were. They carried Kalashnikovs. Now it is much more complicated, but one thing is sure - any man who covers his face and packs a gun is a legitimate target for any decent citizen.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Men, Long Ago

133 Copy quote
If you find yourself under lethal attack don't be kind. Be harsh. Be tough. Be ruthless.

Jeff Cooper

Finding Yourself, Be Kind, Tough

Jeff Cooper (2006). “Principles of Personal Defense: Revised Edition”, p.45, Paladin Press

164 Copy quote
Never assume that simply having a gun makes you a marksman. You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol than you are a musician because you own a guitar.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Guitar, Musician

Jeff Cooper (2006). “Principles of Personal Defense: Revised Edition”, p.25, Paladin Press

51 Copy quote
The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.

Jeff Cooper

Mistake, Mean, Gun

Jeff Cooper (2002). “Art of the Rifle: Special Colour Edition”, p.8, Paladin Press

73 Copy quote
One correspondent, who is into psychology, notes that in his experience people who are hoplophobes are nearly always nutty in other ways, too. Hoplophobia [fear of guns], of course, is not simply an attitude but rather an aberration in which the sufferer clings to an idea which he himself knows to be unsound, such as the idea that inanimate instruments have a will of their own or that lawbreakers abide by the law.

Jeff Cooper

Attitude, Gun, Law

99 Copy quote
In the larger sense, however, the personal ownership of firearms is only secondarily a matter of defense against the criminal. Note the following from Thomas Jefferson: The strongest reason for the people to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against the tyranny of government. That is why our masters in Washington are so anxious to disarm us. They are not afraid of criminals. They are afraid of a populace which cannot be subdued by tyrants.

Jeff Cooper

Gun, Government, Tyrants

"Jeff Cooper's Commentaries", Vol. 2, No. 5, May 1994.

41 Copy quote

Latest quotes from interviews

"Regardless of what we think we know and should happen the reality is that a lot of stock action is random. Therefore, money management is crucial if you want to be successful as a trader. To me, it`s the cornerstone of both making a living at trading and building wealth."

- Jeff Cooper,

www.forex-third-eye.com, added Sep 6, 2015

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