Libertarian Party Quotes

First they came for the Jews, but I did nothing because I'm not a Jew. Then they came for the socialists, but I did nothing because I'm not a socialist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I did nothing because I'm not a Catholic. Finally, they came for me, but by then there was no one left to help me.

Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all . . . . It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.

The State calls its own violence, law; but that of the individual, crime.

Everything government touches turns to crap.

The government was set to protect man from criminals, and the Constitution was written to protect man from the government.

One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation.

Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots.

In the end, more than freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all – security, comfort, and freedom. When the Athenians finally wanted not to give to society but for society to give to them, when the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.

It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.

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

When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.

Alcohol didn't cause the high crime rates of the '20s and '30s, Prohibition did. And drugs do not cause today's alarming crime rates, but drug prohibition does.

A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence.

We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have... Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. - Second Amendment to the Constitution An armed society is a polite society.

Tyranny is always better organized than freedom.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all.

A right is not what someone gives you; it's what no one can take from you.

Experience teaches us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent.

Liberty is the only thing you cannot have unless you are willing to give it to others.

What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It's not good at much else.

When freedom is outlawed, only outlaws will be free.

Here's your enemy for this week, the government says. And some gullible Americans click their heels and salute - often without knowing who or even where the enemy of the week is.

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.

Vices are simply the errors which a man makes in his search after his own happiness. Unlike crimes, they imply no malice toward others, and no interference with their persons or property.

The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government off the backs of people.

It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones.

Take not from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.

Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power over people is to assure the people that they are ruling themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully submissive slaves.

The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions

The Libertarian Party is a shameful party

The people cannot delegate to government the power to do anything which would be unlawful for them to do themselves.

The ultimate touchstone of constitutionality is the Constitution itself, and not what we have said about it.

The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.

Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

The most fundamental purpose of government is defense, not empire.

The war for freedom will never really be won because the price of freedom is constant vigilance over ourselves and over our Government.

Were it necessary to bring a majority into a comprehension of the libertarian philosophy, the cause of liberty would be utterly hopeless. Every significant movement in history has been led by one or just a few individuals with a small minority of energetic supporters.

Truth and news are not the same thing.

Time is the only thing you can't buy.

For libertarians, freedom entails the right of people to live their lives any way they choose, so long as their conduct is peaceful. For conservatives, freedom entails the right of government to do just about anything it wants, even if its conduct is violent.

There comes a time when a moral man can't obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust.

Men are most apt to believe what they least understand.

You can't give the government the power to do good without also giving it the power to do bad - in fact, to do anything it wants.