Thoughts
Wisdom From F.A. Harper
The Terrific Urge to prevent another person from making a "Mistake" must
be Resisted if Liberty is to Be Preserved. The "Protective Spirit" that
Leads a Fond Parent to Prohibit his Child From Acquiring Mature
Judgments, as he Substitutes his own Opinions for those of the child,
leads the Dictator to Act As He Does in "Protecting" his Political
Children.
2009-12-03 at 12:41:55
More From Patrick Henry
It is natural to Man to indulge in the Illusions of Hope. We are apt to
Shut our Eyes Against a Painful Truth, and Listen to the Song of that
Siren, till she transforms us into Beasts. Is this the part of Wise Men,
engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to
be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears,
hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
For my part, whatever Anguish of Spirit it may Cost, I am Willing to
Know the Whole Truth; To Know The Worst And Provide For It.
2009-12-02 at 16:17:47
And More From Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The Task Must Be To Banish From The Thoughts Of Mankind The Idea That
Anybody Has The Right To Use Force Against Righteousness, Or Against
Justice, Or Against Any Mutual Agreements.
2009-11-25 at 20:04:28
The Wisdom of Ludwig von Mises
It is important to remember that government interference always means
either violent action or the threat of such action. The funds that a
government spends for whatever purposes are levied by taxation. And taxes
are paid because the taxpayers are afraid of offering resistance to the
tax gatherers. They know that any disobedience or resistance is hopeless.
As long as this is the state of affairs, the government is able to
collect the money that it wants to spend. Government is in the last
resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers,
prison guards, and hangmen. The essential feature of government is the
enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning. Those
who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately
for more compulsion and less freedom.
2009-11-17 at 16:58:27
The Wonderous Wisdom Of George Orwell
All Political Thinking For Years Past Has Been Vitiated In The Same Way.
People Can Foresee The Future Only When It Coincides With Their Own
Wishes, And The Most Grossly Obvious Facts Can Be Ignored When They Are
Unwelcome.
In Our Age There Is No Such Thing As Keeping Out Of Politics. All
Issues Are Political Issues, And Politics Itself Is A Mass Of Lies,
Evasions, Folly, Hatred And Schizophrenia.
Power Is Not A Means, It Is An End. One Does Not Establish A Dictatorship
In Order To Safeguard A Revolution; One Makes The Revolution In Order To
Establish The Dictatorship.
Political Language - Is Designed To Make Lies Sound Truthful And Murder
Respectable, And To Give An Appearance Of Solidity To Pure Wind.
The Great Enemy Of Clear Language Is Insincerity. When There Is A Gap
Between Ones Real And Ones Declared Aims, One Turns, As It Were,
Instinctively To Long Words And Exhausted Idioms, Like A Cuttlefish
Squirting Out Ink.
War Against A Foreign Country Only Happens When The Moneyed Classes Think
That They Are Going To Profit From It.
The Atom Bombs Are Piling Up In The Factories, The Police Are Prowling
Through The Cities, The Lies Are Streaming From The Loudspeakers, But The
Earth Is Still Going Around The Sun.
2009-11-14 at 19:52:08
From Henry A. Wallace
Their Final Objective Toward Which All Their Deceit Is Directed Is To
Capture Political Power So That, Using The Power Of The State And The
Power Of The Market Simultaneously, They May Keep The Common Man In
Eternal Subjection.
2009-11-14 at 15:59:51
And more Wisdom From Ayn Rand
Do Not Consider Collectivists As Sincere, But Deluded, Idealists. The
Proposal To Enslave Some Men For The Sake Of Others Is Not An Ideal;
Brutality Is Not Idealistic, No Matter What Its Purpose. Do Not Ever Say
That The Desire To Do Good By Force Is A Good Motive. Neither Power-Lust
Nor Stupidity Are Good Motives.
2009-11-13 at 16:37:02
And More From Frederick Douglass
Find Out Just What People Will Submit To, And You Have Found Out The
Exact Amount Of Injustice And Wrong Which Will Be Imposed Upon Them;
The Limits Of Tyrants Are Prescribed By The Endurance Of Those Whom
They Oppress.
2009-11-12 at 20:10:13
From William Somerset Maugham
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 It Values More,
It Will Lose That Too.
2009-11-11 at 13:28:17
More From Mark Twain
In The Beginning Of A Change, The Patriot Is A Brave And Scarce Man,
Hated And Scorned. When The Cause Succeeds, However, The Timid Join Him-
-For Then It Costs Nothing To Be A Patriot.
2009-11-10 at 17:42:33
From David A. Love, JD
Often, People will look at a High Profile Example of Corruption, and
Conclude that the Egregious Act is an Exception to the Rule.
In Reality though, It just might be the Tip of the Iceberg.
2009-11-06 at 16:25:51
More From Murray N. Rothbard
Instead of a bumbling and inefficient toll of society, the radical
Libertarian sees the State itself, in its very nature, as Coercive,
Exploitative, Parasitic, and hence profoundly antisocial. The State
Is, and always has been, the Greatest Single Enemy Of The Human Race,
of its Liberty, its Happiness, and its Progress.
2009-11-06 at 12:26:38
From Louis Dembitz Brandeis
Fear Of Serious Injury Cannot Alone Justify Suppression Of Free Speech
And Assembly. Men Feared Witches And Burned Women. It Is The Function
Of Speech To Free Men From The Bondage Of Irrational Fears.
2009-11-05 at 14:25:02
From Wilhelm Ropke
In spite of its alluring name, the Welfare State stands or falls by
Compulsion. It is Compulsion Imposed Upon Us with the Power of the State
to Punish Noncompliance. Once This is Clear, it is Equally Clear that
the welfare State is an EVIL the Same as Every Restriction of Freedom.
2009-11-03 at 21:33:57
And More From Thomas Paine
Immediate Necessity makes many things Convenient, which if continued
would Grow into Oppressions. Expedience and Right are Different Things.
When we are planning for Posterity, we Ought to Remember that Virtue
Is Not Hereditary.
2009-11-02 at 21:02:24