Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quoteShare via Email Print this Page Daily Quotes Archives2012-01-20 Jan 20, 2012If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.~ George OrwellDo you wish to be free? Then above all things, love God, love your neighbor, love one another, love the common weal; then you will have true liberty.~ Girolamo SavonarolaWhen men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon.~ Thomas Paine Jan 19, 2012Politicians never accuse you of ‘greed’ for wanting other people’s money—only for wanting to keep your own money.~ Joseph SobranGovernment exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.~ Ronald ReaganWhat’s “just” has been debated for centuries, but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then, tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you -- and why?~ Walter E. Williams Jan 18, 2012That no government, so called, can reasonably be trusted, or reasonably be supposed to have honest purposes in view, any longer than it depends wholly upon voluntary support.~ Lysander SpoonerThose who cannot afford to sue currently have no protection of their property rights if they come in conflict with a regulation.~ Steve SymmsThe paternalist project for our civil courts runs something as follows. After the revolution -- which perhaps has already taken place—the average citizen will enjoy a vast array of wonderful new rights to sue other people. You will be empowered to haul your neighbors and fellow citizens to court if you feel they have fallen short of good faith and fair play. You will be entitled to sue them for unlimited damages, punitive as well as compensatory, even over behavior that had previously been thought not subject to liability at all. Everyone will be under a vague but stringent obligation to look out for your safety and welfare, enforceable by legal action. You will enjoy a cornucopia of contention opportunities, a smorgasbord of suing options, a Lotus-land of litigability.~ Walter Olsen Jan 17, 2012Some lawyers and judges may have forgotten it, but the purpose of the court system is to produce justice, not slavish obedience to the law.~ Charley ReeseNo government of the Centre would seek powers to imprison individuals who have committed no crime merely on the say-so of "experts" who believe they might commit a crime. No libertarian government would want to reduce our right to trial by jury, to curfew children, to place "anti-social behaviour orders" on citizens, to conduct compulsory DNA and drug tests on all offenders. No government that was concerned with freedom would seek to ban pursuits that harm no one, such as foxhunting, simply because they are unpopular. No government that has respect for its citizens would seek to interfere so intimately with so many of their private activities -- for instance, what right does a government have to tell me under what terms and conditions I may sell my house. The transaction should, quite simply, be none of their business.~ George ThomasUnder federal law the government is allowed to seize a person’s assets and distribute them, even if the accused is acquitted, or the charges eventually dropped, those assets may be transferred to state law enforcement agencies.~ The Daily Oklahoman Jan 16, 2012No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.~ U.S. ConstitutionNot surprisingly, the federal judiciary nearly always rules in favor of the federal government. Judicial review, contrary to the assurances of its advocates, has hardly restrained Congress at all. Instead it has progressively stripped the states of their traditional powers, while allowing federal power to grow unchecked.~ Joseph SobranAs the interned American citizens of Japanese descent learned, the Bill of Rights provided them with little protection when it was needed.~ Glenn Harlan Reynolds Previous week's quotes Next week's quotes Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print