Libertarian Quotes 1000 and beyond

Quote Author Citation Link For Validity Link Against Validity
1001. What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race. – Thomas Sowell
1002. BATF=Bad Attitude Towards Freedom – Anonymous
1003. 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
1004. Writing to Washington won’t help; he’s dead! – Anonymous
1005. A Bill of Rights that means what the majority wants it to mean is worthless. – Justice Atonin Scalia
1006. Orwell is starting to look like an optimist! – Anonymous
1007. What men value in this world is not rights but privileges. – H.L. Mencken
1008. FBI=Freedom Bashers, Inc. – Anonymous
1009. Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of competitors into a given field, by legislative action. – Ayn Rand
1010. Defend America against the government. – Anonymous
1011. A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. 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
1012. When only the police have guns, it’s called a police state. – Anonymous
1013. The government is not your daddy. The government is not your mommy. – Anonymous
1014. Work harder, millions on welfare on depending upon you. – Anonymous
1015. Criminals obey “gun control” laws in the same manner politicians follow their oaths of office. – Anonymous
1016. To permit is to control. – Unknown
1017. This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. – Unknown
1018. If there’s anything a public servant hates to do it’s something for the public. – Anonymous
1019. The end of the law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. – John Locke
1020. If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny. – Thomas Jefferson
1021. An elective despotism was not the government we fought for. – Thomas Jefferson
1022. Republicans don’t want anyone having more fun than they do, and the Democrats don’t want anyone making more money than they do. Libertarians want you to make money and have fun. – Andre Marrou, LP Presidential candidate
1023. I don’t want my children fed or clothed by the state, but I would prefer that to their being educated by the state. – Max Victor Belz, Grain dealer, Grundy County, Iowa
1024. The early American knew that freedom was nothing more than the absence of external restraint on behavior; the government could not give you freedom, it could only take it away. – Frank Chodorov, Time for Secession
1025. The American experiment has come and gone. Whatever freedoms the people still might have as their own, are monitored and registered and taxed at virtually every turn. – Jeff Baxter
1026. Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one’s government is not necessarily to secure freedom. – F.A. Hayek
1027. The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money. – Alexis de Tocqueville
1028. Many people today think that the government’s job is to take care of us. But I agree with the Delcaration of Independence, which says that the government’s job is to secure our rights (our inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). – Tom Parker
1029. An inherent weakness of a pure democracy is that half the voters are below average intelligence. – Unknown
1030. Liberty has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government. The history of liberty is the history of resistance. – Woodrow Wilson
1031. The Bill of Rights does not come from the people and is not subject to change by majorities. It comes from the nature of things. It declares the inalienable rights of man not only against all government but also against the people collectively. – Walter Lippmann
1032. Martyrdom has always been a proof of the intensity, never of the correctness of a belief. – Arthur Schnitzler
1033. I cannot undertake to lay my finger upon an article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents. – James Madison
1034. It’s not an endlessly expanding list of rights – the “right” to education, the “right” to health care, the “right” to food and housing. That’s not freedom, that’s dependency. Those aren’t rights, those are the rations of slavery – hay and a barn for human cattle. – Alexis De Tocquiville
1035. In a society obsessed with arranging every detail of existance, the unintended is ominous. – Unknown
1036. The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. – Alan Ashley-Pit
1037. Government is, at every level, a means to gather in the labor and wealth of the people, and then instruct the people about new restrictions or monitoring of their lives. – Jeff Baxter
1038. In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful. – Leo Tolstoy
1039. Nobody can be trusted with unlimited power. The more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom. – Rudolph Rummel
1040. Don’t be afraid to take a big step when one is indicated. You can’t cross a chasm in two small steps. – David Lloyd George
1041. If a donkey bray at you, don’t bray at him. – George Herbert
1042. The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of an expanding bureaucracy. – Unknown
1043. The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it’s good-by to the Bill of Rights. – H.L. Mencken
1044. If taxation without consent is not robbery, then any band of robbers have only to declare themselves a government, and all their robberies are legalized. – Lysander Spooner
1045. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one’s property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage. – Walter Williams
1046. Blind belief can be comforting, but it can easily cripple reason and productivity, and stop intellectual progress. – Dr. James Randi
1047. Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add “within the law,” because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual. – Thomas Jefferson
1048. The plans differ; the planners are all alike… – Frederic Bastiat
1049. We want our rulers to be quarterbacks rather than merely referees. – Doug Newman
1050. “Solve” and “Problems” are not in the constitution. – Doug Newman
1051. There are three things which I do not want the government choosing for me: my doctor, my school, and my God. – Doug Newman
1052. Do not suppose that abuses are eliminated by destroying the object which is abused. Men can go wrong with wine and women. Shall we then prohibit and abolish women? – Martin Luther
1053. If you feel driven to feed the poor, get your checkbook out and keep your tyrannical mouth shut about it. – Lew Goldberg
1054. Politics is a clash of interests masquerading as a clash of principles. – Anonymous
1055. Can’t feed’em? Then don’t breed’em. – Anonymous
1056. A personal note to the Founding Fathers: We’re sorry. We blew it. You made it possible for us to live free and we blew it. We’ve given up nearly every personal liberty in the name of a false sense of security sold to the masses by the same type of maniacal government about which you warned us and against which you fought so bravely. We now have to ask permission to take a leak on an airline flight. We never deserved you. – Phil Murphy 7/4/02
1057. Democracy is indispensable to Socialism. – V.I. Lenin
1058. Democracy is the road to Socialism. – Karl Marx
1059. Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex, intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple, stupid behavior. – Dee Hock, Founder and CEO Emeritus of Visa Corp
1060. There cannot be a good tax nor a just one; every tax rests its case on compulsion. – Frank Chodorov (1887-1966), American Essayist and Journalist
1061. The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites the public odium and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments. – Henry Clay (1777-1852), US Senator
1062. I feel obliged to withhold my approval of the plan to indulge in benevolent and charitable sentiment through the appropriation of public funds … I find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution. – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th US President
1063. The purpose of government is to rein in the rights of the people. – Bill Clinton, 42nd US President
1064. You can’t say you love your country and hate your government. – Bill Clinton, 42nd US President
1065. If the personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution inhibit the government’s ability to govern the people, we should look to limit those guarantees. – Bill Clinton, 42nd US President
1066. I can spend your money better than you can. – Bill Clinton, 42nd US President
1067. Any president that lies to the American people should have to resign. – Bill Clinton, 42nd US President
1068. Look not to the politicians; look to yourselves. – Richard Cobden (1804-1865), Member of Parliament
1069. Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty. – Calvin Coolidge, 30th US President
1070. If you kill one person you are a murderer. If you kill ten people you are a monster. If you kill ten thousand you are a national hero. – Vassilis Epaminondou, Greek Social Reformer
1071. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side. – Theodore J. Forstmann, American Business Executive and Philanthropist
1072. Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you. – Benjamin Franklin
1073. Adam Smith’s key insight was that both parties to an exchange can benefit and that, so long as cooperation is strictly voluntary, no exchange can take place unless both parties do benefit. – Milton Friedman
1074. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself. – Milton Friedman
1075. We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes non-work. – Milton Friedman
1076. What kind of a society isn’t structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm. – Milton Friedman
1077. Self-interest is not myopic selfishness. It is whatever it is that interests the participants, whatever they value, whatever goals they pursue. The scientist seeking to advance the frontiers of his discipline, the missionary seeking to convert infidels to the true faith, the philanthropist seeking to bring comfort to the needy – all are pursuing their interests, as they see them, as they judge them by their own values. – Milton Friedman
1078. History suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. – Milton Friedman
1079. When a man spends his own money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about how much he spends and how he spends it. When a man spends his own money to buy something for someone else, he is still very careful about how much he spends, but somewhat less what he spends it on. When a man spends someone else’s money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about what he buys, but doesn’t care at all how much he spends. And when a man spends someone else’s money on someone else, he does’t care how much he spends or what he spends it on. And that’s government for you. – Milton Friedman
1080. Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed. – Robert A. Heinlein
1081. Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry. Supposedly Thomas Jefferson Link
1082. The most esteemed journalists are precisely the most servile. For it is by making themselves useful to the powerful that they gain access to the “best” sources. – Walter Karp (1934-1989), American Journalist and Political Theorist
1083. Every time that we try to lift a problem from our own shoulders, and shift that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people. – JFK
1084. There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal. – F.A. Hayek
1085. The supply of government exceeds the demand. – Lewis H. Lapham II, Editor, Harper’s Magazine, and Author
1086. War has become a spectator sport for Americans. – Rear Admiral Gene R. LaRocque, Co-founder, Center for Defense Information
1087. To say that a bad government must be established for fear of anarchy is really saying that we should kill ourselves for fear of dying. – Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), Member of Continental Congress, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Senator
1088. Government is a disease masquerading as its own cure. – Robert LeFevre (1911-1986), Political Theorist, Educator, Journalist and Author
1089. Give peace a chance. – John Lennon
1090. Democracy: The state of affairs in which you consent to having your pocket picked, and elect the best man to do it. – Benjamin Lichtenberg
1091. Successful … politicians are insecure and intimidated men. They advance politically only as they placate, appease, bribe, seduce, bamboozle or otherwise manage to manipulate the demanding and threatening elements in their constituencies. – Walter Lippmann (1889-1974), American Journalist and Author
1092. Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience … – John Locke (1632-1704), English Political Philosopher
1093. The end of the law is, not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. – John Locke (1632-1704), English Political Philosopher
1094. Politicians say they’re beefing up our economy. Most don’t know beef from pork. – Harold Lowman
1095. Our government has kept us in a perpetual state of fear – kept us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor – with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it. – General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), Supreme Allied Commander, General of the U.S. Army
1096. No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation. – General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), Supreme Allied Commander, General of the U.S. Army
1097. It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen. – George E. MacDonald (1824-1905), Scottish Novelist
1098. It is no more the function of government to impose a moral code than to impose a religious code. And for the same reason. [1947] – Robert M. MacIver (1882-1970), Scottish Sociologist
1099. … The power to declare war, including the power of judging the causes of war, is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature … the executive has no right, in any case, to decide the question, whether there is or is not cause for declaring war. – James Madison (1751-1836), 4th U.S. President
1100. If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. – James Madison (1751-1836), 4th U.S. President
1101. Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos. – John Marshall (1755-1835), Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court
1102. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government … – US Constitution, Article 4, Section 4.
1103. The word “Democracy” cannot be found in the American Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution, or in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag, or the Constitutions of any of the States. – Unknown
1104. Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds. – Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993), U.S. Supreme Court
1105. Unless a good deed is voluntary, it has no moral significance. – Everett Dean Martin (1880-1941), Political Philosopher
1106. Patriotism is a kind of religion; it is the egg from which wars are hatched. – Guy de Maupassant (1850-1892), French Author
1107. 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
1108. The average man doesn’t want to be free. He simply wants to be safe. – H.L. Mencken
1109. Whatever crushes individuality is despotism, no matter what name it is called. – John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), Economist and Philosopher
1110. The true remedy for most evils is none other than liberty, unlimited and complete liberty, liberty in every field of human endeavor. – Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912), Belgian Economist and Philosopher
1111. A right without an attendant responsibility is as unreal as a sheet of paper which has only one side. – Felix Morley (1894-1981), American Journalist, Educator and Author
1112. It is a reality attested by all history that if a republic assumes imperial functions it will not remain a republic. – Felix Morley (1894-1981), American Journalist, Educator and Author
1113. It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government. – Thomas Paine (1737-1809), American Revolutionary and Author Probably not Thomas Paine but, instead, Edward Abbey Edward Abbey A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis en Deserto) : Notes from a Secret Journal (1990) ISBN 0312064888

Thank you, Wayne Simpson, for pointing out that this is likely a false attribution.

 Link
1114. A tax-supported, compulsory educational system is the complete model of the totalitarian state. – Isabel Paterson (1886-1961), American Author
1115. The degree of a country’s freedom is the degree of its prosperity. – Ayn Rand (1905-1982), Novelist and Philosopher
1116. As government expands, liberty contracts. – Ronald W. Reagan, 40th U.S. President
1117. It is not the business of the law to make anyone good or reverent or moral or clean or upright. – Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995), American Economist, Historian, Political Theorist, and Author
1118. It is easy to be conspicuously “compassionate” if others are being forced to pay the cost. – Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995), American Economist, Historian, Political Theorist, and Author
1119. 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 N. Rothbard (1926-1995), American Economist, Historian, Political Theorist, and Author
1120. War does not determine who is right–only who is left. – Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), English Philosopher, Author, 1950 Nobel Prize-Winner in Literature
1121. Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country – Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), English Philosopher, Author, 1950 Nobel Prize-Winner in Literature
1122. The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage. – Thucydides (460-400 B.C.), Greek Historian
1123. The man who asks of freedom anything other than itself is born to be a slave. – Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), French Philosopher and Author
1124. The program of [classical] liberalism, condensed into a single word, would have to read: property. – Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Austrian Economist and Author
1125. This, then, is freedom in the external life of man–that he is independent of the arbitrary power of his fellows. – Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Austrian Economist and Author
1126. The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all the struggles for liberty. – Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Austrian Economist and Author
1127. The state is essentially an apparatus of compulsion and coercion. The characteristic feature of its activities is to compel people through the application or the threat of force to behave otherwise than they would like to behave. – Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Austrian Economist and Author
1128. The rights of the individual should be the primary object of all governments. – Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814), American Playwright, Poet, Historian
1129. The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure. – George Washington
1130. When the fox administers justice, the chickens will always be found guilty. – Cat Farmer
1131. The main point of a constitution is to put limits on what aspects of life are subject to majority rule. – Ronald Bailey
1132. If none were to have Liberty but those who understand what it is, there would not be many freed Men in the world. – Lord Halifax
1133. When the people have no tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one. – Lord Lytton
1134. It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad. – James Madison
1135. 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
1136. It stands to reason that where there’s sacrifice, there’s someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there’s service, there’s someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master. – Ayn Rand
1137. The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic. – H.L. Mencken
1138. Where Liberty dwells, there is my country. – Benjamin Franklin
1139. Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other “sins” are invented nonsense. – Robert Heinlein
1140. All the Congress, all the accountants and tax lawyers, all the judges, and a convention of wizards all cannot tell for sure what the income tax law says. – Walter B. Wriston
1141. It’s easier to scare someone than to persuade him. – Edwin Feulner, president of The Heritage Foundation Link
1142. 8 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
1143. lib·er·tar·i·an: One who advocates maximizing individual rights and minimizing the role of the state. – American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
1144. 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
1145. 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
1146. Word for today: Eleutherophobia. e·leuth·er·o·pho·bi·a – n. 1. The fear of freedom. – From www.panphobia.com Link
1147. In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car. – Lawrence Summers
1148. A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against its government. – Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)
1149. Suppose the Second amendment said “A well-educated electorate being necessary for self-governance in a free state, the right of the people to keep and read books shall not be infringed.” Is there anyone who would suggest that means only registered voters have a right to read? – Robert Levy, Georgetown University professor
1150. The government’s War on Poverty has transformed poverty from a short-term misfortune into a career choice. – Harry Browne
1151. An inevitable consequence of socialism is the division of society into two groups: those who are consuming government “services” and those who are paying for them. – Lee Robinson Link
1152. Private enterprise creates; government destroys. That is the great economic lesson of our times and all times. – Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. Link
1153. Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. – Winston Churchill
1154. It is much cheaper and enormously more profitable for the special interests to purchase the regulatory favors of Washington’s political harlots than to compete in a fair, unsubsidized markeplace. – Lee Robinson
1155. Government control gives rise to fraud, suppression of Truth, intensification of the black market and artificial scarcity. Above all, it unmans the people and deprives them of initiative, it undoes the teaching of self-help… – Gandhi
1156. … an increase in the power of the State … does the greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality which lies at the heart of all progress… – Gandhi
1157. The intent of the Second Amendment is to arm the people to frighten government and to keep it in check. – Ted Lang Link
1158. Our legislators are not sufficiently apprized of the rightful limits of their power; that their true office is to declare and enforce only our natural rights and duties, and to take none of them from us. – Thomas Jefferson, Letter to F. W. Gilmer, 1816
1159. Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force. – Thomas Jefferson
1160. If you are not outraged you are not paying attention – Unknown
1161. Socialists like to tout their confiscation and redistribution schemes as noble and caring, but we should ask if theft is ever noble or caring. – Robert Hawes
1162. The greatest gift of freedom is that it allows us to govern ourselves, and the greatest burden of freedom is that it requires us to govern ourselves. – Robert Hawes
1163. A great danger that we face in our modern world is to get so caught up in the pursuit of the blessings that freedom has given us that we come to take freedom itself for granted, and thus fail to see to its maintenance. – Robert Hawes
1164. All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void. – Marbury vs Madison
1165. 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 in Bill Clinton on Steroids (1/22/04)
1166. Everyone is entitled to his own opnion, but not his own facts. – Daniel Patrick Moynihan
1167. The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. – Daniel Webster
1168. Profit is a signal that valuable services are being rendered to people on a voluntary basis. – Lew Rockwell
1169. Subsidies create more of whatever is being subsidized. – Lew Rockwell
1170. 98% of Americans support the use of mass transit by others. – The Onion (satire newspaper)
1171. You don’t need a degree in political science to know what freedom is. – Andrew Wiegand
1172. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. – Thomas Jefferson
1173. As our rights fade out, we accept perpetual war for perpetual peace, the two parties fuse into one, and the government becomes more powerful than at any time in our history. – Kevin Maley
1174. Even the lion has to defend himself against flies. – Anonymous
1175. The fact is that the average man’s love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty – and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies. – H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, Feb. 12, 1923
1176. Expecting the government to fight the deficit is like expecting the Mafia to fight crime. – Anonymous
1177. 80% of success is showing up. – Woody Allen
1178. F x S=k. The product of freedom and security is a constant. – Anonymous
1179. Four Boxes of Freedom: Soap, Ballot, Jury, Cartridge. – Anonymous
1180. Freedom is still the most radical idea of all. – Anonymous
1181. At the day of judgment we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done. – Thomas A Kempis
1182. Have no fear. The next President will promise not to raise taxes. – Anonymous
1183. Old MacDonald had an agricultural real estate tax abatement. – Anonymous
1184. Rather suffer an injustice than commit one. – Anonymous
1185. Space has no beginning or end and goes on to infinity with no limits! Like taxes, but on a much smaller scale. – Anonymous
1186. Syntax? Why not, they tax everything else. – Anonymous
1187. Taxes are not for the benefit of the taxed. – Anonymous
1188. Taxpayers don’t have to take a civil service exam to work for the government. – Anonymous
1189. The chief purpose of government it to perpetuate the government. – Anonymous
1190. The politicians’ three R’s: this is Ours, that is Ours, everything is Ours. – Anonymous
1191. The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits. – Anonymous
1192. Time cuts down all, Both great and small. – Anonymous
1193. Things happen the day you decide you’re going to make them happen. – Pam Lontos
1194. Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true. – Anonymous
1195. Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents? – Anonymous
1196. A soft answer turneth away wrath. King James Bible  Proverbs 15:1
1197. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. – Anonymous  King James Bible  Ecclesiastes 4:12
1198. Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead. – Anonymous
1199. By forcing an individual to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, it violates the ideals of justice and liberty that the flag is meant to represent. –ACLU
1200. Public schools are institutions of coercion. Students are coerced to attend them. Parents are coerced to pay for them. – Gary Reed
1201. A proliferation of new laws creates a proliferation of new loopholes.
1202. A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it. – Oscar Wilde
1203. Any system that takes responsibility away from people, dehumanizes them.
1204. Ask more questions than you answer.
1205. Bad law is more likely to be supplemented than repealed.
1206. Being right is seldom enough. Even the best ideas must be packaged and sold.
1207. Better to be 10% effective doing something worthwhile than 100% in something worthless.
1208. Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes, work never begun.
1209. Change your thoughts and you change your world.
1210. small government is beautiful – Carla Howell
1211. All generalizations are false. There are absolutely no absolutes. You can be sure that nothing is certain. It’s really bad, even evil, to make or pronounce moral judgments. – FreedomKeys.com
1212. What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else. – Tom Clancy on Kudlow and Cramer 9/2/03
1213. The majority of Americans get their news and information about what is going on with their government from entities that are licensed by and subject to punishment at the hands of that very government. – Neal Boortz
1214. What the government gives, it must first take away. – John S. Coleman
1215. Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated. – Thomas Jefferson
1216. With respect to the words “general welfare,” I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators. – James Madison
1217. The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. – Abraham Lincoln
1218. I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him. – Booker T. Washington
1219. Write a wise saying and your name will live forever. – Unknown
1220. The reverse side also has a reverse side. – Unknown
1221. You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake. – Jeannette Rankin
1222. I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. – Bill Cosby
1223. Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction. – E. F. Schumacher
1224. We can’t all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. – Will Rogers
1225. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts. – Bertrand Russell
1226. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they? – George Carlin
1227. The problem with political jokes is they get elected. – Henry Cate VII
1228. When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself public property. – Thomas Jefferson
1229. It matters not whether you win or lose; what matters is whether I win or lose.” – Darrin Weinberg
1230. Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse. – Adlai E. Stevenson
1231. No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible. – Stanislaw J. Lec
1232. A problem well stated is a problem half solved. – C.F. Kettering
1233. I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand. – Confucius (B.C. 551-479)
1234. I don’t have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem. – Ashleigh Brilliant
1235. The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.” – Thomas Jefferson
1236. The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not. – Friedrich A. Hayek, in “The Road to Serfdom”
1237. The fatal flaw in socialism is twofold: first, the conceit inherent in the desire to plan the lives of others; second, the force necessary to impose that plan on unwilling subjects. This is not a formula for freedom but for tyranny. Jim Peron The Ideals of Tyranny Link
1238. Remember that the key words in the sentence “I want to help you” is “I want”. – G James
1239. Liberty is born of self-interest. It effects goodwill to all through its practice, and it generates goodwill in everyone as a consequence. – Richard Rieben
1240. If voting made a difference, they would make it illegal. – Donal Scannell, at the Conference on World Affairs, Boulder CO, 4/6/04
1241. The greatest danger is from legal drugs. – Terry McNally, at the Conference on World Affairs, Boulder CO, 4/6/04
1242. Poverty is the greatest cause of terrorism. – Azmat Hassan, at the Conference on World Affairs, Boulder CO, 4/6/04
1243. In almost all matters, the real question should be: why are we letting government handle this? – Harry Browne
1244. From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be inequality in their actual position, and the only way to place them in an equal position would be to treat them differently. Equality before the law and material equality are therefore not only different but are in conflict with each other; and we can achieve either the one or the other, but not both at the same time. – Friedrich von Hayek
1245. That measures of this nature [the draft] should be debated at all in the councils of a free government is cause of dismay. The question is nothing less than whether the most essential rights of personal liberty shall be surrendered and despotism embraced in its worst form. – Daniel Webster
1246. The Constitution: it’s not just a good idea, it’s the law. – Michael Badnarik, 2004 LP Presidential candidate
1247. The root source of wealth is human ingenuity. This has no known bounds, so the amount of wealth in existence can always be increased. That’s why capitalism is called “making money”. – Marc Geddes
1248. I’d rather live free with some peril than be a protected slave of government. – Dave Duffy
1249. Democracy is not a system of liberty, but a form of tyranny: the tyranny of the majority. – Robert Garmong
1250. A hallmark of democracy is pressure-group warfare, as each group seeks to claim the status of a majority and exploit all the rest. – Robert Garmong
1251. It makes no difference, in principle, if this “collective will” is divined by the edicts of a dictator or by majority vote – so long as the rights of the individual may still be sacrificed. – Robert Garmong
1252. Individualists unite! – Treveor Sutherland, Hamilton County TN LP Chairman
1253. A constitution is the law governing government. – Wesley F. Deitchler, LP News 5/04
1254. The government that we gave limited power to – to protect our rights – has grown into a hideous behemoth that continually increases its power and now enslaves the people, and causes strife throughout the world. – Tom Parker
1255. Those are my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others. – Groucho Marx
1256. Many say that since all the signers of the Constitution were Christian, this is a Christian country. However, they were all white males as well. Are we a White Male Country? – “bostnfound”, in a Free State Project forum, 7/04
1257. Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances. – Thomas Jefferson
1258. Most people … aren’t just ignorant or stupid: they genuinely prefer government control of their own and their neighbors’ lives. We can hand out flyers for the rest of our lives, publish as many books as we like, make speeches until we’re blue in the face, and most of them aren’t going to change their minds. While they disagree among themselves about the details, authoritarians of one sort or another constitute an overwhelming majority. – Max Orhai, Liberty Magazine, 6/04, page 23
1259. Benevolence comes from within as a reflection of our personal, individual sense of well-being. To force it, externally – through moral intimidation (altruism), social intimidation (duty), or at the point of a gun (legislation) – debilitates our personal sense of well-being and negates the source of benevolence. – Richard Rieben (4/7/04)
1260. How many libertarians does it take to screw in a light bulb?
1261. None. The free market will handle it.
1262. It is our true policy to steer clear of entangling alliances with any portion of the foreign world. The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. – George Washington
1263. I can now comprehend the fact that there is no possibility of freedom in this Country. It’s too late. Call me a bad American, but I am ashamed and hang my head low when I think of what America has become. … The experiment is over, freedom lost, tyranny won. – Mike Wasdin, 9/7/04
1264. Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government. – James Madison
1265. Unlike the world of free-markets, in political government when some individuals win, other individuals lose. – Robert Klassen, 10/3/02
1266. When a majority rules, a minority is ruled. – Robert Klassen, 10/3/02
1267. The price of a “free” public education is freedom. – Capitalism.org
1268. All wars are fought over one premise; my god is better than yours. – Mike Wasdin
1269. It is commonly believed that the rights of the American people come from the Constitution. Nothing could be further from the truth. – Jacob G. Hornberger [Our rights are inalieanable; they exist independently of government, not because of government.]
1270. Borrow, spend, tax and … promise, promise, promise is the formula for a long and successful political career. – Hal O’Boyle
1271. We get to go to the polls every couple of years and choose between two flavors of the same gruel. The inmates get to elect the guards. Then, having exercised our rights as free citizens of a great social democracy, we go back to obeying orders. – Hal O’Boyle
1272. The government says: You are free to do anything we want. – Anonymous
1273. The political ballot box stands for – willingness to be ruled by somebody other than yourself. – Alvin Lowi, Jr.
1274. If voting could change things, it would be illegal. – Unknown
1275. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a refund from the IRS, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. – Unknown
1276. The next time some academics tell you how important “diversity” is, ask how many Republicans there are in their sociology department. – Thomas Sowell
1277. We’ve been thoroughly trained in government institutions where every day for twelve of our most impressionable years we took a loyalty oath before starting our work. Hal O’Boyle
1278. To protect us from terrorists our government treats us like terrorists. Hal O’Boyle
1279. Government failure is always used as an excuse for government expansion. Government thrives on crisis and incompetence. – Jim Babka of DownsizeDC.org
1280. Politics is a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. – Ambrose Bierce
1281. If we all stop voting, will they just go away? – Bumper Sticker
1282. The price of empire is terrorism. – Greenbacks
1283. We have been living amidst one of the great revolutions of human history, and we hardly know it: the penetration of the State into every aspect of human life and society. Some people regard this as good and “progressive,” others regard it as tyrannical; but either way, it’s a fact, a transformation as great as, say, the Industrial Revolution. Absolutely nothing is now beyond the scope of State power. – Joseph Sobran, 1/27/04
1284. The chances of your being harmed by terrorists are mathematically minute. The chance of your being robbed by your own government? That’s easy: 100 per cent. – Joseph Sobran, 1/1/04
1285. A limited government is a contradiction in terms. – Robert LeFevre, The Fundamentals of Liberty
1286. The most destructive thing governments do is divide people against each other, all in competition over the reins of the state. – Anthony Gregory
1287. The war on “terror” will never be over, it will just change locations. Like the war on drugs, prostitution, pornography, and the many others that will follow, it is a war on humanity. These wars will never be won; the State will just keep creating new boogiemen to frighten us with. The sheep will anxiously anticipate the next fall guy the State offers up as a sacrifice for the war on whatever happens to be next. Be careful, the next pawn could be me or you. – Mike Wasdin
1288. The seeds of today’s runaway government were planted when it was decided that government should help those who can’t help themselves. From that modest, compassionate beginning to today’s out-of-control mega-state, there’s a straight, unbroken line. Once the door was open, once it was settled that the government should help some people at the expense of others, there was no stopping it. – Harry Browne .
1289. When you think of the good old days, think one word: dentistry. – P. J. O’Rourke
1290. Vows made in a storm are forgotten in calms. – Old English saying
1291. If the Tenth Amendment were still taken seriously, most of the federal government’s present activities would not exist. That’s why no one in Washington ever mentions it. – Thomas E. Woods, Jr. in The Policitally Incorrect Guide to American History
1292. The problem is big government. If whoever controls government can impose his way upon you, you have to fight constantly to prevent the control from being harmful. With small, limited government, it doesn’t much matter who controls it, because it can’t do you much harm. Harry Browne Link
1293. It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future. – Baseball legend Yogi Berra
1294. A country that goes out of its way to imprison the innocent has no business preaching democracy to the world. Paul Craig Roberts Link
1295. The problem is that democracy is not freedom. Democracy is simply majoritarianism, which is inherently incompatible with real freedom. Our founding fathers clearly understood this. – Rep. Ron Paul in Democracy Is Not Freedom Link
1296. Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery. – Frank Chodorov
1297. There’s small choice in rotten apples. – William Shakespeare
1298. How to obtain freedom has been, and is, mankind’s most important quest. – John A Pugsley, intro to “None of the Above”.
1299. All of political history history can be summed up as a struggle to throw the bad guys out and put the good guys in. – John A Pugsley, intro to “None of the Above”.
1300. A democracy is rule by the majority; a republic is the rule of law. This is a very critical distinction. Steven LaTulippe Link
1301. Voting is the opiate of the masses. Steven LaTulippe Link
1302. Popular suffrage is in itself no guarantee of freedom. People can vote themselves into slavery. – Frank Chodorov
1303. As the state grows, one’s sense of self-ownership is destroyed, liberty is traded for “security,” the human spirit diminishes, and the citizenry increasingly thinks and behaves like dependent children. Eric Englund Income Taxes, Obesity, and Other Maladies of Nanny Statism 2/28/05. Link
1304. To shackle future generations, with such monstrous debt and liabilities [$50 trillion+ of unfunded federal liabilities], is tantamount to selling them into tax slavery. Eric Englund Income Taxes, Obesity, and Other Maladies of Nanny Statism 2/28/05 Link
1305. We cannot restore traditional American freedom unless we limit the government’s power to tax. No tinkering with this, that, or the other law will stop the trend toward socialism. We must repeal the Sixteenth Amendment. Frank Chodorov The Income Tax: Root of all Evil Link
1306. Government is force, and politics is the process of deciding who gets to use it on whom. This is not the best way to solve problems. – Richard Grant, The Incredible Bread Machine, 1999
1307. The good governor should have a broken leg and keep at home. – Cervantes
1308. A man is none the less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years. – Lysander Spooner
1309. People do not walk barefoot because there are no government shoe factories. – Anonymous
1310. What difference is it to me if a decision is forced upon me by a dictator or by half of my neighbors? Either way my right to free, peaceful action has been nullified. – Stephen H. Foerster
1311. An anarchist is anyone who believes in less government than you do. – Robert LeFevre
1312. You don’t need a treaty to have free trade. – Murray Rothbard
1313. Public schools are government-established, politician- and bureaucrat-controlled, fully politicized, taxpayer-supported, authoritarian socialist institutions. In fact, the public-school system is one of the purest examples of socialism existing in America. – Thomas L. Johnson
1314. The Free Market is Mother Nature’s way of organizing economic activity. David Aitken Colorado Libertarian Private email to Ralph Shnelvar on 20-13-10-13
1315. Government has a monopoly on the legal use of force and violence. David Aitken Colorado Libertarian Private email to Ralph Shnelvar on 20-13-10-13
1316. Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.” Robert Heinlein Time Enough for Love Link
1317. I sincerely join you in abjuring all political connection with every foreign power; and tho I cordially wish well to the progress of liberty in all nations, and would forever give it the weight of our countenance, yet they are not to be touched without contamination from their other bad principles. Commerce with all nations, alliance with none, should be our motto. Thomas Jefferson Letter to Thomas Lomax Monticello, Mar. 12, 1799 Link
1318. A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Boots Mark Twain Link
1319. A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Boots but at Least Modern Technology Gives The Truth a Decent Pair of Sneakers Ralph Shnelvar Private email to Caroline Jumper on November 6, 2016 Link