Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [81-100] of 315 Individualism quotesIndividualism QuotesIndividualism Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes They [the founders] proclaimed to all the world the revolutionary doctrine of the divine rights of the common man. That doctrine has ever since been the heart of the American faith.~ Dwight D. Eisenhower The less government we have the better - the fewer laws and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal government is the influence of private character, the growth of the individual.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Every actual state is corrupt. Good men must not obey laws too well.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Man exists for his own sake and not to add a laborer to the State.~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Every man – in the development of his own personality – has the right to form his own beliefs and opinions. Hence, suppression of belief, opinion and expression is an affront to the dignity of man, a negation of man’s essential nature.~ Thomas I. Emerson The right to freedom of expression is justified first of all as the right of an individual purely in his capacity as an individual. It derives from the widely accepted premise of Western thought that the proper end of man is the realization of his character and potentialities as a human being.~ Thomas I. Emerson The beginning of philosophy is the recognition of the conflict between opinions.~ Epictetus The civilized man has a moral obligation to be skeptical, to demand the credentials of all statements that claim to be facts.~ Bergan Evans Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.~ William Faulkner If a blending of individualism and of cooperative participation is a prerequisite to a democratic solution of the problems of a society of free men, it must also be noted that an atmosphere of freedom is required if these problems are to be met constructively and as they arise.~ Marshall Field Paradoxical as it may seem, men and women who are free to pursue individualism and material wealth turn out to be the most compassionate of all.~ Financial Times We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent.~ Abraham Flexner The last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.~ Viktor Frankl The proper role of government is exactly what John Stuart Mill said in the middle of the 19th century in On Liberty. The proper role of government is to prevent other people from harming an individual. Government, he said, never has any right to interfere with an individual for that individual's own good. The case for prohibiting drugs is exactly as strong and as weak as the case for prohibiting people from overeating. We all know that overeating causes more deaths than drugs do. If it's in principle OK for the government to say you must not consume drugs because they'll do you harm, why isn't it all right to say you must not eat too much because you'll do harm? Why isn't it all right to say you must not try to go in for skydiving because you're likely to die? Why isn't it all right to say, "Oh, skiing, that's no good, that's a very dangerous sport, you'll hurt yourself"? Where do you draw the line?~ Milton Friedman Phil Donohue: When you see around the globe the maldistribution of wealth, the desperate plight of millions of people in underdeveloped countries, when you see so few haves and so many have-nots, when you see the greed and the concentration of power, did you ever have a moment of doubt about capitalism? And whether greed is a good idea to run on? Milton Friedman: Well first of all tell me, is there some society you know that doesn't run on greed? You think Russia doesn't run on greed? You think China doesn't run on greed? What is greed? Of course none of us are greedy. It's only the other fella that's greedy. The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests. The greatest achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn't construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn't revolutionize the automobile industry that way. In the only cases in which the masses have escaped from the kind of grinding poverty that you are talking about, the only cases in recorded history are where they have had capitalism and largely free trade. If you want to know where the masses are worst off, it's exactly in the kind of societies that depart from that. So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear, there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system. Phil Donohue: Seems to reward not virtue as much as the ability to manipulate the system. Milton Friedman: And what does reward virtue? You think the Communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? Do you think... American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of political clout? Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest? You know I think you are taking a lot of things for granted. And just tell me where in the world you find these angels that are going to organize society for us? Well, I don't even trust you to do that.~ Milton Friedman The heart of the liberal philosophy is a belief in the dignity of the individual, in his freedom to make the most of his capacities and opportunities according to his own lights…This implies a belief in the equality of man in one sense; in their inequality in another.~ Milton Friedman The member of a primitive clan might express his identity in the formula “I am we”; he cannot yet conceive of himself as an “individual,” existing apart from his group.~ Erich Fromm Freedom lies in being bold.~ Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.~ Robert Frost Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print