Libertarianism Quotes - Page 4

• Politicians are always interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Dog, Freedom, People

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.58, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Mystical references to society and its programs to help may warm the hearts of the gullible but what it really means is putting more power in the hands of bureaucrats.

  Thomas Sowell

  Heart, Mean, Hands

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• A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes--will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished.

  John Stuart Mill

  Men, Hands, Order

  'On Liberty' (1859) ch. 5

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• If you have two religions in your land, the two will cut each other’s throats; but if you have thirty religions, they will dwell in peace

  Voltaire

  Cutting, Land, Two

  Francois Voltaire (1977). “The Portable Voltaire”, p.142, Penguin

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• A favorite Wired icon for the information feedback loop, a dragon curling in a circle to swallow its own tail, could become more apt as a symbol of the timeless libertarian paradox: Monopoly verging on feudalism emerges from unregulated competition to bite libertarianism in the posterior.

  Jedediah Purdy

  Dragons, Circles, Icons

  "The God of the Digerati". Essay in the American Prospect Magazine, prospect.org. March-April 1998.

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• In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, Make us your slaves, but feed us.

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  Food, Feet, Libertarian

  Fyodor Dostoevsky (1981). “Grand Inquisitor”, p.8, A&C Black

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• The control of the production of wealth is the control of human life itself.

  Hilaire Belloc

  Liberty, Libertarian, Wealth

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• The Revolution will be complete when the language is perfect.

  George Orwell

  Perfect, Liberty, Libertarian

  George Orwell (2014). “1984”, p.44, Arcturus Publishing

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• Need' now means wanting someone else's money. 'Greed' means wanting to keep your own. 'Compassion' is when a politician arranges the transfer.

  Joseph Sobran

  Mean, Compassion, Wanting Someone

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• Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.

  Thurgood Marshall

  Men, Giving, Freedom Of Speech

  Thurgood Marshall, Mark V. Tushnet (2001). “Thurgood Marshall: His Speeches, Writings, Arguments, Opinions, and Reminiscences”, p.11, Chicago Review Press

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• I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.

  H. L. Mencken

  Peace, Freedom, War

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• Most people want security in this world, not liberty.

  H. L. Mencken

  Freedom, People, Liberty

  H.L. Mencken (2013). “Minority Report”, p.172, Knopf

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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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• Citizen participation is a device whereby public officials induce nonpublic individuals to act in a way the officials desire.

  Daniel Patrick Moynihan

  Desire, Liberty, Citizens

  Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1970). “Toward a national urban policy”

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• You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Giving Money, People, Libertarian

  P.J. O'Rourke (1991). “PARLIAMENT OF WHORES A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”

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• That which we call sin in others is experiment for us.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Libertarian, Spirituality, Sin

  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1983). “Essays and Lectures”, p.488, Library of America

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• When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads.

  Ron Paul

  Government, Liberty, Bed

  "2012 calendar: Pin-ups for Ron Paul" by Patrick Gavin, www.politico.com. November 15, 2011.

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• The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best.

  Thomas Sowell

  Inspirational, Liberty, Libertarian

  Thomas Sowell (1996). “Knowledge And Decisions”, p.79, Basic Books

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• Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.

  Jonathan Swift

  Inspirational, Law, Break Through

  A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind (1709) See Anacharsis 1

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• Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Freedom, Libertarian Party, Historical

  Henry David Thoreau (2006). “Thoreau and the Art of Life: Precepts and Principles”, p.23, Heron Dance Press

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• Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.

  Lily Tomlin

  Country, Honesty, Work

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• There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as "caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he's willing to try to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do good with his own money - if a gun is held to his head.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Pride, Caring, Gun

  "Why I Am a Conservative". Book by P. J. O'Rourke, 1996.

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• One of the more pretentious political self-descriptions is 'Libertarian.' People think it puts them above the fray. It sounds fashionable, and to the uninitiated, faintly dangerous. Actually, it's just one more bullshit political philosophy.

  George Carlin

  Philosophy, Thinking, Self

  George Carlin (2002). “Napalm & Silly Putty”, Hyperion

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• What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race?

  Thomas Sowell

  Race, Blood, Political

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

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• Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease but an error of judgment.

  Philip K. Dick

  Moving, Errors, Car

  1977 A Scanner Darkly, author's note.

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