Libertas

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Lord Acton:

“Liberty is not the means to a higher political end. It is the highest political end.” ~Lord Acton

“The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.” ~ Lord Acton

John Adams:

“You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments: rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws….” ~John Adams

Dante Alighieri:

“Mankind is at its best when it is most free.” ~Dante Alighieri

Hannah Arendt:

“The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill conviction but to destroy the capacity to form any.” ~Hannah Arendt

Isaac Asimov:

“Politically popular speech has always been protected: even the Jews were free to say „Heil Hitler.”" ~Isaac Asimov

Sir Francis Bacon:

“Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise.” ~Sir Francis Bacon

Frédéric Bastiat:

“Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone.” ~Frédéric Bastiat

“Taxes must, in the end, fall upon the consumer.” ~Frédéric Bastiat

“The plans differ; the planners are all alike…” ~Frédéric Bastiat

“The State is the great fiction by which everybody tries to live at the expense of everybody else.” ~Frédéric Bastiat

“When goods don’t cross borders, solders will.” ~Frédéric Bastiat

Henry Ward Beecher:

“Liberty is the soul’s right to breathe and, when it cannot take a long breath, laws are girdled too tight.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

Hilaire Belloc:

“Never could an increase of comfort or security be a sufficient good to be bought at the price of liberty.” ~Hilaire Belloc

Milton Berle:

William Blackstone:

“The public good is in nothing more essentially interested, than in the protection of every individual’s private rights.” ~William Blackstone

Stephen T. Byington:

“No legal tender law is ever needed to make men take good money; its only use is to make them take bad money.” ~Stephen T. Byington

“War is the health of the State.” ~Randolph Bourne

Pearl Buck

“None who have always been free can understand the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom to those who are not free.” ~Pearl Buck

Edmund Burke:

“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” ~Edmund Burke

George W. Bush:

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face! It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” ~George W. Bush

Albert Camus:

“It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.” ~Albert Camus

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” ~Albert Camus

George Carlin:

“Bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” ~ George Carlin

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra:

“Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it, life is insupportable.” ~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

“Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.” ~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

«¡Oh envidia, raiz de infinitos males y carcoma de las virtudes!» ~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Frank Chodorov:

“There cannot be a good tax nor a just one; every tax rests its case on compulsion.” ~Frank Chodorov

Bill Clinton:

“A lot of people say there’s too much personal freedom. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.” ~Bill Clinton

“We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans.” ~Bill Clinton

Calvin Coolidge:

‎”Liberty is not collective, it is personal. All liberty is individual liberty.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

Dorothy Day:

“If we rendered unto God all the things that belong to God, there would be nothing left for Caesar.” ~Dorothy Day

Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky:

“The socialist who is a christian is more to be dreaded than the socialist who is an atheist.” ~Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky

William O. Douglas:

“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.” ~William O. Douglas

Albert Einstein:

“Force always attracts men of low morality.” ~Albert Einstein

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” ~Albert Einstein

W.C. Fields:

“Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against.” ~W.C. Fields

Benjamin Franklin:

“It is the responsibility of every citizen to question authority.” ~Benjamin Franklin

“It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Milton Friedman:

“Inflation is taxation without legislation.” ~Milton Friedman

“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.” ~Milton Friedman

R. Buckminster Fuller:

“War is the ultimate tool of politics.” ~R. Buckminster Fuller

Mohandas K. Gandhi:

“The first principle of non-violence is the non-compliance with everything that is humiliating.” ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

“The ideally non-violent state will be an ordered anarchy. That State is the best governed which is governed the least.” ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

“The State represents violence in a concentrated and organized form.” ~Mohandas K. Gandhi

John Taylor Gatto:

“Ordinary people send their children to school to get smart, but what modern schooling teaches is dumbness.” ~John Taylor Gatto

Charles de Gaulle:

“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” ~Charles de Gaulle

Edward Gibbon:

“A law was thought necessary to discriminate the dress of comedians from that of senators ….” -Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

“The principles of a free constitution are irrevocably lost when the legislative power is dominated by the executive.” ~Edward Gibbon

“When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free.” ~Edward Gibbon

Joseph Goebbels:

“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.” ~Joseph Goebbels

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

„Niemand ist mehr Sklave, als der, der sich für frei hält, ohne es zu sein.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Barry Goldwater:

“The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government.” ~Barry Goldwater

Robert D. Graham:

Once you stop fearing the government, the government fears you.” ~Robert D. Graham

Alexander Haig:

“Let them march all they want, so long as the pay their taxes.” ~Alexander Haig

Ryan D. Hall:

“‘Compulsory anything is tyranny!” ~Ryan D. Hall

Sir John Harrington:

“Treason doth never prosper. What’s the reason?                                                                                                                                              For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.” ~Sir John Harrington

Benjamin Harrison:

“We Americans have no commission from God to police the world.” ~Benjamin Harrison

Friedrich August von Hayek:

“La propiedad privada es la mayor garantía de libertad” ~Friedrich August von Hayek

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they know about what they imagine they design.” ~Friedrich August von Hayek

“There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.” ~Friedrich August von Hayek

Robert A. Heinlein:

“Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.” ~Robert A. Heinlein

Auberon Herbert:

“By what right do men exercise power over each other?” ~Auberon Herbert

Karl Hess:

“Capitalism is rejected by the modern right-which preaches enterprise but practices protectionism.” ~Karl Hess

“Liberals yearn for a state that will bomb the rich and balm the poor. They too yearn for political power.” ~Karl Hess

“Libertarianism is rejected by the modern left — which preaches individualism but practices collectivism.” ~Karl Hess

“The radical-revolutionary position is libertarianism, and its socioeconomic form is Laissez-faire capitalism.” ~Karl Hess

Adolf Hitler:

“The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.” ~Adolf Hitler

Sam Houston:

“Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.” ~Sam Houston

David Hume:

“It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.” ~David Hume

Robert Green Ingersoll:

“What light is to the eyes – what air is to the lungs – what love is to the heart, liberty is to the soul of man.” ~Robert Green Ingersoll

Retired IRS Agent:

“Give me your social security number and I can find out anything about you.” ~Retired IRS Agent

Thomas Jefferson:

“Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“Liberty..is the great parent of science and of virtue; and..a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free.” ~Thomas Jefferson

‎”My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” ~Thomas Jefferson

“Poor people have access to the courts in thesame sense that Christians had access to the lions.” ~Judge Earl Johnson Jr.

Jouvenel:

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? ~Jouvenel

Who will guard us from the guardians? ~Jouvenel

Bertrand de Jouvenel:

“A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” ~Bertrand de Jouvenel

Henry Kissinger:

“Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign policy towards the third world.” ~Henry Kissinger

‎Edward Langley:

“What this country needs are many more unemployed politicians.” ~Edward Langley

Lao Tzu:

“How could man rejoice in victory and delight in the slaughter of men?” ~Lao Tzu

“Only fools seek power, and the greatest fools seek it through force.” ~Lao Tzu

“The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice.” ~Lao Tzu

“When taxes are too high, people go hungry.” ~Lao Tzu

Vladimir Lenin:

“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.” ~Vladimir Lenin

“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” ~Vladimir Lenin

C.S. Lewis:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” ~ C.S. Lewis

John Locke:

“Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has a right to, but himself.” ~John Locke

Slavery consists of being “subject to the incessant, uncertain, arbitrary will of another man.” ~John Locke

David MacGregor:

“Freedom is the societal condition that exists when every individual has full (i.e. 100%) control over his own property.” ~David MacGregor

James Madison:

“The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.” ~James Madison

“The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” ~James Madison

“[T]he power to declare war is fully and exclusively vested in the legislature.” ~James Madison

John Marshall:

“The power to tax is the power to destroy.” ~ John Marshall

José Martí:

«Vale más un minuto de pie que una vida de rodillas.» ~José Martí

David Martínez-Celis:

“Presidents are nothing more than what the name of their office suggests—they ‘preside’ over the masses in the name of the power elite. They are shepherds on behalf of the wolves.” ~David Martínez-Celis

Groucho Marx:

“Military justice is to justice what military music is to music.” ~Groucho Marx

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” ~Groucho Marx

Karl Marx:

“Corrupt the money and the language, and capitalism can be brought down.” ~Karl Marx

“Democracy is the road to socialism.” ~Karl Marx

“For the bureaucrat, the world is a mere object to be manipulated by him.” ~Karl Marx

Ben Mauldin:

“History has shown us that ‘evil’ can be much more successful when it can color its deeds with patriotism, duty, and honor.” ~Ben Mauldin

Jack McLamb:

“Tyranny can not come to the door of any American, unless it comes in uniform.” ~Jack McLamb

Michael Melton:

“If we don’t get out, we are going to be in deep obama.” ~Michael Melton, On Texas secession

H. L. Mencken:

“All government, of course, is against liberty.” ~H. L. Mencken

‎”Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.” ~H. L. Mencken

“Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.” ~H. L. Mencken

“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.” ~H. L. Mencken

“Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is a sort of advance auction in stolen goods.” ~H. L. Mencken

“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

“I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.” ~H. L. Mencken

“The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.” ~H. L. Mencken

“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

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.” ~H. L. Mencken

Ludwig von Mises:

“A country becomes more prosperous in proportion to the rise of invested capital per unit of its population.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“Government is essentially the negation of liberty.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“Government is the only institution that can take a valuable commodity like paper, and make it worthless by applying ink.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“Socialism and interventionism. Both have in common the goal of subordinating the individual unconditionally to the state.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“Whoever wants peace among nations must seek to limit the state and its influence most strictly.” ~Ludwig von Mises

“Whoever wishes peace among peoples must fight statism.” ~Ludwig von Mises

Stormy Mon:

“Government is a cancer masquerading as its own cure.” ~Stormy Mon

Montesquieu:

“The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.” ~Montesquieu

Clyde V. Moore:

“Liberals think everything is unsustainable except massive government.” ~Clyde V. Moore

Benito Mussolini:

“Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism as it is a merge of state and corporate power.” ~Benito Mussolini

“Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato.” ~Benito Mussolini

“Everything for the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.” ~Benito Mussolini

“It was only one life. What is one life in the affairs of a state?” ~Benito Mussolini

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche:

“A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.” ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has it has stolen.” ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

“The coldest of all cold monsters is known by the name, State. Coldly it lies, and this lie slips from its mouth: ‘I, the State, am the people.’” ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

„Staat heißt das kälteste aller kalten Ungeheuer.  Kalt lügt es auch; und diese Lüge kriecht aus seinem Munde: ‘Ich, der Staat, bin das Volk.’” ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Albert J Nock:

“It is unfortunately none too well understood that, just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own.” ~Albert J Nock

George Orwell:

“Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac.” ~Georlge Orwell

“if you want a vision of the liberal future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever.” ~George Owell

“if you want a vision of the liberal future, imagine a Birkenstock stamping on a human face – forever.” ~Unknown

“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” ~Georlge Orwell

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” ~Georlge Orwell

“The first step in liquidating a people is to erase their memory.” ~Georlge Orwell

“The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” ~Georlge Orwell

Thomas Paine:

“What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue.” ~Thomas Paine

“War is the gambling table of governments, and citizens the dupes of the game.” ~Thomas Paine

Ron Paul:

“Justifying conscription to promote the cause of liberty is one of the most bizarre notions ever conceived by man!” ~Ron Paul

“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” ~Ron Paul

William Pitt:

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” ~William Pitt

Plato:

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.” ~Plato

Bishop Beilby Porteus:

“One murder makes a villain, millions a hero.” ~Bishop Beilby Porteus

Ezra Pound:

“A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.” ~Ezra Pound

Terry Pratchett:

“Taxation is just a sophisticated way of demanding money with menaces” ~Terry Pratchett

Ayn Rand:

“I am interested in politics so that one day I will not have to be interested in politics.” ~Ayn Rand

“The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” ~Ayn Rand

Thomas B. Reed:

“One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation.” ~Thomas B. Reed

Lawrence Reed:

“Socialism irons out the boom-bust cycle by eliminating the boom part.” ~Lawrence Reed

Chris Rock:

“You don’t pay taxes….they take taxes.” ~ Chris Rock

Will Rogers:

“The difference between death and taxes is death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.” ~Will Rogers

Murray Rothbard:

“In the long run, ideas, not force, rule; and any government has to have legitimacy in the minds of the public.” ~Murray Rothbard

“The greatest danger to the State is independent intellectual criticism.” ~Murray Rothbard

“The state is a gang of thieves writ large.” ~Murray Rothbard

Mayer Amschel Rothschild:

“Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” ~Mayer Amschel Rothschild

Kenneth W. Royce:

“Liberty is not a cruise ship full of pampered passengers. Liberty is a man-of-war, and we are all crew.” ~Kenneth W. Royce

Ken Schoolland:

“A truly free society is not only the most practical and humanitarian foundation for human action, it is the most ethical.” ~Ken Schoolland

Seneca:

“Laws do not persuade just because they threaten.” ~Seneca

Michael Shanklin:

“They keep us fighting over how to make our cage better, I just want to get rid of the cage.” ~Michael Shanklin

David Singhiser:

“Faith is the difference between fighting for victory and fighting FROM victory.” ~David Singhiser

“Whoever makes the money, makes the wars.” ~David Singhiser

“Whoever said, ‘it’s the journey, not the destination,’ must have gone first class.” ~David Singhiser

L. Neil Smith:

“Anyone who needs to be persuaded to be free, doesn’t deserve to be.” ~L. Neil Smith

“Politicians never accuse you of “greed” for wanting other people’s money – only for wanting to keep your own money.” ~Joseph Sobran

Herbert Spencer:

“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly, is to fill the world with fools.” ~Herbert Spencer

Lysander Spooner:

“The fact is that the government, like a highwayman, says to a man: ‘Your money, or your life.’” ~Lysander Spooner

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

“A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.” ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Violence can only be concealed by a lie, and the lie can only be maintained by violence.” ~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Thomas Sowell:

“Socialism in general has a record of failure so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it.” ~Thomas Sowell

“The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites.” ~Thomas Sowell

“While capitalism has a visible cost; profit, that does not exist under socialism. Socialism has an invisble cost; inefficiency.” ~Thomas Sowell

Herbert Spencer:

“The ultimate consequence of protecting men from the results of their own folly is to fill the world with fools.” ~Herbert Spencer

Stendal:

“The shepherd always tries to persuade the sheep that their interests and his own are the same.” ~Stendal

Max Stirner:

“The State calls its own violence law, but of the individual, crime.” ~Max Stirner

Jonathan Swift:

“Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through.” ~Jonathan Swift

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” ~Jonathan Swift

“When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.” ~Jonathan Swift

Alexis de Tocqueville:

‎”The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.” ~Alexis de Tocqueville

Henry David Thoreau:

“If the law is of such a nature that it requires you to be an agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law.” ~Henry David Thoreau

“There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Benjamin Tucker:

“To force a man to pay for the violation of his own liberty is indeed an addition of insult to injury.” ~Benjamin Tucker

Mark Twain:

“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” ~Mark Twain

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.” ~Mark Twain

“That’s the difference between governments and individuals. Governments don’t care, individuals do.” ~Mark Twain

“There is no distinctly American criminal class – except Congress.” ~Mark Twain

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” ~Mark Twain

Laurence M. Vance:

“Government schools don’t need to be “taken back” by Christians, they need to be abandoned.” ~Laurence M. Vance

Leonardo da Vinci:

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” ~Leonardo da Vinci

Voltaire:

“All men have equal rights to liberty, to their property, and to the protection of the laws.” ~Voltaire

“All murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.” ~Voltaire

“In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.” ~Voltaire

“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.” ~Voltaire

“The history of great events in this world is scarcely more than the history of crimes.” ~Voltaire

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” ~Voltaire

Barbara Wakefield, my mother:

“I can’t imagine being so bored that I would cook something.” ~Barbara Wakefield

“I’m against cooking.” ~Barbara Wakefield

The other day I said, “I smell something burning.” My mom said, “I didn’t cook anything.”

George Washington:

“Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.” ~George Washington

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.” ~George Washington

Oscar Wilde:

“A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.” ~Oscar Wilde

Claire Wolfe:

“When freedom is illegal, criminals make laws and Outlaws make freedom.” ~Claire Wolfe

Yes, Prime Minister (UK TV Show):

Politicians’ Logic: Something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it.

Howard Zinn:

“There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” ~Howard Zinn

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