Murray N. Rothbard, (1926-1995) Dean of the Austrian School of Economics Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page Murray N. Rothbard Quote “It is not the business of the law to make anyone good or reverent or moral or clean or upright.”Murray N. Rothbard ~ Murray N. Rothbard (1926-1995) Dean of the Austrian School of Economics Government , Law , Morals , Oppression , Religion , Virtue , Agnostic Ratings and Comments Reply Anonymous 6/1/05 1 Reply Mike, Norwalk 4/10/14 The business of the law is: "It Is What It Is". Gravity does not make anyone good, reverent, moral, clean or upright. Neither does physics, fiscal law or that which is absolute before justice. Legislation that addresses a particular religion's ('A'thiest to 'Z'en) ethics, good, reverent, moral, clean or upright (feed the hungry, cloth the naked, finance the impoverished, shelter the homeless, sexual practices between consenting adults, etc.) is a legal positivism that is diametrically opposed to a government of law ("It is NOT the business of the law") Reply jim k, austin tx 4/10/14 Amen, brother. Reply Ron w13, Or 4/10/14 Reply SCSURFR, La Mirada 4/10/14 Agreed, but at what point and how do we make it clear what is considered unacceptable societal behavior without some sort of threat of punishment for transgressions? In order to do that we would need to be fair by outlining through law what those transgressions and punishments would be. It would be unjust not to provide fair warning, which could actually be expected to have the effect of influencing good behavior. 1 Reply E Archer, NYC 4/11/14 @SCSURFR, IN answer to your question, we don't! Stop trying to use 'the law' to dictate behavior. Courts of law should only be used to adjudicate the violation of people's rights, nothing else. People should not be punished because they 'might' have hurt someone -- and 'crimes' in which the victim is also the perpetrator are nothing but political in nature. Laws that are aimed at protecting us from ourselves are nothing short of tyranny. We cannot legislate the risk out of life nor the natural consequences of our actions. 'Social justice' and 'social engineering' cause way more problems than they solve. We either learn the hard way or not at all ... Reply Mary, MI 5/6/19 SaveOk2 SaveOk2 View CommentsClick to view or comment. Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print This Murray N. Rothbard quote is found in these categories: Government quotes Law quotes Morals quotes Oppression quotes Religion quotes Virtue quotes Agnostic quotes About Murray N. Rothbard Bio of Murray N. Rothbard Quotations by Murray N. Rothbard Books by/about Murray N. Rothbard Murray N. Rothbard videos Murray N. Rothbard on Wikipedia Astrological chart for Murray N. Rothbard