Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [721-740] of 1002 Responsibility quotesResponsibility QuotesResponsibility Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers -- and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system.~ Ayn Rand I swear by my life, and love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.~ Ayn Rand The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time.~ Ayn Rand A people who mean to continue free must be prepared to meet danger in person; not rely upon the fallacious protection of mercenary armies.~ Edmund Randolph We all know our duty better than we discharge it.~ John Randolph We have plenty of freedom in this country but not a great deal of independence.~ John W. Raper It is incorrect to think of liberty as synonymous with unrestrained action. Liberty does not and cannot include any action, regardless of sponsorship, which lessens the liberty of a single human being. To argue contrarily is to claim that liberty can be composed of liberty negations, patently absurd. Unrestraint carried to the point of impairing the liberty of others is the exercise of license, not liberty. To minimize the exercise of license is to maximize the area of liberty. Ideally, government would restrain license, not indulge in it; make it difficult, not easy; disgraceful, not popular. A government that does otherwise is licentious, not liberal.~ Leonard E. Read An informed patriotism is what we want.~ Ronald Reagan If history teaches us anything, it teaches that simple-minded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly.~ Ronald Reagan Republicans believe the best way to assure prosperity is to generate more jobs. The Democrats believe in more welfare.~ Ronald Reagan Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.~ Ronald Reagan Man is not free unless government is limited.... As government expands, liberty contracts.~ Ronald Reagan The NRA believes America's laws were made to be obeyed and that our Constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago. And by the way, the Constitution does not say Government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'~ Ronald Reagan If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.~ Ronald Reagan Nations crumble from within when the citizenry asks of government those things which the citizenry might better provide for itself. ... [I] hope we have once again reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.~ Ronald Reagan Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business, frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite.~ Ronald Reagan You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, 'The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.'~ Ronald Reagan Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.~ Ronald Reagan 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?~ Ronald Reagan When you start talking about government as 'we' instead of 'they,' you have been in office too long.~ Ronald Reagan Previous 20 quotes Next 20 quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print