Libertarian Quotes - Page 14

• Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

  Mark Twain

  Funny, Life, Sarcastic

  Quoted in Albert B. Paine, Mark Twain: A Biography (1912)

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• The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it.

  John Hay

  Tyrants, Evil, Liberty

  John Hay (1871). “Castilian Days”, p.28

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• There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.

  Friedrich August von Hayek

  Differences, People, Liberty

  "Individualism: True and False" by Friedrich Hayek, 1945.

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• Time is the only thing you can't buy.

  Nicole Lapin

  Oxford, Libertarian Party, Liberty

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• If you have ever seen a four-year-old trying to lord it over a two-year-old, then you know what the basic problem of human nature is - and why government keeps growing larger and ever more intrusive.

  Thomas Sowell

  Government, Years, Two Year Olds

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  If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

  James Madison

  Inspirational, Freedom, Fear

  "The Last Enemy" by Rebecca Sato, www.pbs.org. November 11, 2010.

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• This, then, is freedom in the external life of man-that he is independent of the arbitrary power of his fellows.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Independent, Men, Liberty

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist”, p.168, VM eBooks

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• You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.

  William J. H. Boetcker

  Leadership, Courage, Freedom

  "Ten Cannots". Book by William J.H. Boetcker, 1916.

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• You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

  William J. H. Boetcker

  Sound, Discouraging, Thrift

  "Ten Cannots". Book by William J. H. Boetcker, 1916.

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• It is no more the function of government to impose a moral code than to impose a religious code. And for the same reason.

  Robert Morrison MacIver

  Religious, Government, Liberty

  Robert Morrison MacIver (1965). “The Web of Government”

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• The office of government is not to confer happiness, but to give men the opportunity to work out happiness for themselves.

  William Ellery Channing

  Happiness, Patriotic, Opportunity

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• Perhaps one of the most important accomplishments of my administration has been minding my own business.

  Calvin Coolidge

  Accomplishment, Presidential, Political

  1929 Press conference, Mar.

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• The great non sequitur committed by defenders of the State, is to leap from the necessity of society to the necessity of the State.

  Murray Rothbard

  Liberty, States, Leap

  Murray N. Rothbard (2015). “The Ethics of Liberty”, p.187, NYU Press

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• The desire of businessmen for profits is what drives prices down unless forcibly prevented from engaging in price competition, usually by governmental activity.

  Thomas Sowell

  Competition, Desire, Liberty

  Thomas Sowell (1996). “Knowledge And Decisions”, p.225, Basic Books

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• Can you think of a single area of government in which George Bush hasn't already made things worse than Bill Clinton did?

  Harry Browne

  Thinking, Government, Liberty

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• The ground of liberty is to be gained by inches, and we must be contented to secure what we can get from time to time and eternally press forward for what is yet to get. It takes time to persuade men to do even what is for their own good.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Liberty, Inches

  Thomas Jefferson, H. A. Washington (2011). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Being His Autobiography, Correspondence, Reports, Messages, Addresses, and Other Writings, Official and Private”, p.126, Cambridge University Press

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• The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline.

  Milton Friedman

  Letting Go, Weed, Loss

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• As you may have heard, the U.S. is putting together a constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? Think about it - it was written by very smart people, it's served us well for over two hundred years, and besides, we're not using it anymore.

  Jay Leno

  Smart, Thinking, Two

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• The degree of a country's freedom is the degree of its prosperity.

  Ayn Rand

  Country, Liberty, Degrees

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.39, Penguin

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• Going to war accelerated the move from indirect to direct rule. Almost any state that makes war finds that it cannot pay for the effort from its accumulated reserves and current revenues. Almost all war-making states borrow extensively, raise taxes, and seize the means of combat - including men - from reluctant citizens who have other uses for their resources.

  Charles Tilly

  War, Moving, Mean

  Charles Tilly, Arthur L. Stinchcombe (1997). “Roads from Past to Future”, p.149, Rowman & Littlefield

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• Words summarize the American philosophy of life: Live and let live; Let's make a deal. 8 words summarize American foreign policy: We're better than you; Do it our way.

  Gary North

  Philosophy, Liberty, Way

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• The Senate voted 97-0 for an anti-spam bill to stop those annoying things you get on your computer. The senators made it very clear that when you start misleading the American people and start taking their money over false promises, that's our turf, buddy!

  Jay Leno

  People, Political, Promise

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• Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, Liberty, Void

  Thomas Jefferson (1977). “The Portable Thomas Jefferson”, p.228, Penguin

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• Private enterprise creates; government destroys. That is the great economic lesson of our times and all times.

  Llewellyn Rockwell

  Government, Liberty, Lessons

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• The rights of the individual should be the primary object of all governments.

  Mercy Otis Warren

  Rights, Government, Liberty

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