Liberty Quotes - Page 3

• There are people who think that plunder loses all its immorality as soon as it becomes legal. Personally, I cannot imagine a more alarming situation.

  Frederic Bastiat

  Thinking, People, Libertarian

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• The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.

  William O. Douglas

  Freedom, Libertarian

  "Public Utilities Commission v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451". U.S. Supreme Court case, supreme.justia.com. May 26, 1952.

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• Useless laws weaken the necessary laws.

  Baron de Montesquieu

  Philosophical, Law, Useless

  "The Spirit of the Laws". Treatise by Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Book XXIX: Of the Manner of Composing Laws, Ch. 16: Things to be Observed in the Composing of Laws, 1748.

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• Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.

  Samuel Adams

  Religious, Freedom, Religion

  Samuel Adams' Speech delivered at the State House in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, August 1, 1776.

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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, Doe, Citizens

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

  Thomas Sowell

  Inspirational, Libertarian, Economic

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

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• No nation was ever ruined by trade.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Business, Libertarian, Economics

  Benjamin Franklin, William-Temple Franklin (1818). “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of (the Same), Continued to the Time of His Death by William Temple Franklin. - London, H. Colburn 1818”, p.157

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• America... goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all.

  John Quincy Adams

  Peace, America, Independence

  Friedrich von Gentz, John Quincy Adams, Richard Loss (1800). “The origin and principles of the American Revolution compared with the origin and principles of the French Revolution: a facsimile reproduction”, Academic Resources Corp

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• A society that robs an individual of the product of his effort ... is not strictly speaking a society, but a mob held together by institutionalized gang violence.

  Ayn Rand

  Effort, Together, Libertarian

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• What is the basic, the essential, the crucial principle that differentiates freedom from slavery? It is the principle of voluntary action versus physical coercion or compulsion.

  Ayn Rand

  Principles, Essentials, Slavery

  Ayn Rand, Nathaniel Branden, Alan Greenspan, Robert Hessen (1986). “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, p.43, Penguin

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• Liberty doesn't work as well in practice as it does in speeches.

  Will Rogers

  Freedom, Patriotic, Practice

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• America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She well knows that by enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standards of freedom.

  John Quincy Adams

  War, Ambition, Color

  Speech on Independence Day at the United States House of Representatives, teachingamericanhistory.org. July 04, 1821.

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• We suffer most when the White House busts with ideas.

  H. L. Mencken

  Ideas, White, House

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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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• History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads.

  Charles de Gaulle

  Freedom, Men, Break Through

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• The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

  Desmond Tutu

  Memorial Day, Peace, Freedom

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• It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Libertarian Party, Government, People

  Benjamin Franklin, William Temple Franklin (1819). “Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin...: Posthumous and other writings”, p.111

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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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• None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

  Wisdom, Powerful, Freedom

  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1853). “Goethe's Opinions on the World, Mankind, Literature, Science, and Art”, p.3

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• The truth was that all men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain degree.

  James Madison

  Truth, Men, Presidential

  James Madison's notes on the debates in the Federal Convention, avalon.law.yale.edu. July 11, 1787.

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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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• We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship.

  E. M. Forster

  Fear, Past, Freedom Of Speech

  E.M. Forster (1951). “Two Cheers for Democracy”

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• The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.

  Ron Paul

  Money, Peace, War

  Ron Paul (1987). “Freedom Under Siege”, p.60, Ludwig von Mises Institute

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• Whatever crushes individuality is despotism.

  John Stuart Mill

  Crush, Individuality, Despotism

  On Liberty ch. 3 (1859)

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• Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

  Ronald Reagan

  Motivational, God, Freedom

  Remarks at the Annual Convention of the the National Association of Evangelicals, delivered 8 March 1983, Orlando, Florida

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