Category Archives: Quotations Freedom

…(O)ur sages in the great (constitutional) convention … intended our government should be a republic which differs more widely from a democracy than a democracy from a despotism. The rigours of a despotism often oppress only a few, but it is the very essence and nature of a democracy, for a faction claiming to oppress a minority, and that minority the chief owners of the property and truest lovers of their country. Fisher Ames
American statesman, 1805

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for …

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized. Consequently, we defend each person’s right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

Libertarian party platform

Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, …

Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that a doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can’t socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some of you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he’ll eat you last. Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan, October 27, 1964

The origin of all constitutional rights, according to Lincoln, was the right …

The origin of all constitutional rights, according to Lincoln, was the right that a man had to own himself, and therefore to own the product of his labor. Government exists to protect that right, and to regulate property only to make it more valuable to its possessors. Harry V. Jaffa
Abraham Lincoln on the essence of slavery and government jobs [as reported in a Wall Street Journal article by Jaffa, September 12, 1996]