One of the things that makes me a conservative, or a libertarian, or whatever the heck it is that I am -… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
There are lots of levels of fear and complaint about the government getting involved in business. First and foremost, of course, is… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
You know, if government were a product, selling it would be illegal. Government is a health hazard. Governments have killed many more… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
If it were not for government regulation of big corporations, executives at companies like Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, they could have cheated investors… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
During the mid-1980s dairy farmers decided there was too much cheap milk at the supermarket. So the government bought and slaughtered 1.6… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Our earliest evidence of government, in the ruins of Babylon and Egypt, shows nothing but ziggurats and pyramids of wasted taxpayer money,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Whatever it is that the government does, sensible Americans would prefer that the government do it to somebody else. This is the… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Newsmen believe that news is a tacitly acknowledged fourth branch of the federal system. This is why most news about government sounds… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Remember that all tax revenue is the result of holding a gun to somebody's head. Not paying taxes is against the law.… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Ever read any [Friedrich] Hayek? He's great. The Road To Serfdom is like... I'm not a big political-science reader, but I actually… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Social Security is a government program with a constituency made up of the old, the near old and those who hope or… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state ... this violates a fundamental… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Libertarianism is a way of measuring how the government and other kinds of systems respect the individual. At the core of libertarianism… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
If you ask the government to solve all of your problems, it's a bit like asking your wife to cook and clean,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Government is a health hazard. Governments have killed many more people than cigarettes or unbuckled seat belts ever have. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Whenever government proposes to get involved in the regulation of trade, just be very, very careful about who's behind this proposal, what… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Feeling good about government is like looking on the bright side of any catastrophe. When you quit looking on the bright side,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
There's a very good reason that governments aren't supposed to compete with private-enterprise companies. Governments have monopolies on certain things, like eminent… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
No government proposal more complicated than "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" ever works. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Government proposes, bureaucracy disposes. And the bureaucracy must dispose of government proposals by dumping them on us. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Something that confirms all fears and many conspiracy theories about government is finding out what our elected representatives would put into law… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
As a libertarian I believe we should have a federal government simple and circumscribed enough to be run by an average, dull,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Politics doesn't work. Look at the parts of America where government has had the most power, where government has spent the most… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
The whole idea of our government is this: If enough people get together and act in concert, they can take something and… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
It is very hard now to shock people into thinking about government regulation and the extent of government involvement in life. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
In England, all the English car companies were beginning to circle the drain in a series of well-deserved failures and bankruptcies, earned… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Government usually doesn't work. It doesn't work because it is political. People who are wise, good, smart, skillful, or hardworking don't need… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
The main reason to be opposed to political control of smoking is to keep power -even the smallest and silliest kind of… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
There are twenty-seven specific complaints against the British Crown set forth in the Declaration of Independence. To modern ears they still sound… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Maybe it's understandable what a history of failures America's foreign policy has been. We are, after all, a country full of people… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
How a peaceful, uncrowded place with ample wherewithal stays poor is hard to explain. How a conflict-ridden, grossly over-populated place with no… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. AND… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
Fiscal conservatism is just an easy way to express something that is a bit more difficult, which is that the size and… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
A pleasant natural environment is a good - a luxury good, philosophical good, a moral goody-good, a good time for all. Whatever,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share Image
In comparative terms, there's no poverty in America by a long shot. Heritage Foundation political scientist Robert Rector has worked up figures showing that… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
The Democrats said, "We don't know what's wrong with America, but we can fix it." The Republicans said, "There's nothing wrong with America, and… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
At Epcot Center the Disney corporation has focused its attention on two things greatly in need of Disneyfication: the tedious future and the annoying… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
So-called Western Civilization, as practised in half of Europe, some of Asia and a few parts of North America, is better than anything else… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
It was Ronald Reagan who used to say that the 10 most frightening words in the English language are, "I'm from the federal government,… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
Gun violence has cost us too many political leaders, and hardly ever the worst ones. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
Pete Seeger is a modest, unassuming, cheerful, and kind-natured man. He's a good folk singer, if you can stand folk singing. And he's such… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
Journalists are notoriously easy to kid. All you have to do is speak to a journalist in a very serious tone of voice, and… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
I like to think of my behavior in the sixties as a 'learning experience.' Then again, I like to think of anything stupid I've… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
I'll be 56 this year, I've got two kids, and I think it's probably time to go back to writing one-glove jokes. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
Something that comes to us, some gym shoe that comes to us as a result of child labor from a brutal dictatorship, where people… — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
Russians not only vehemently despise blacks, they believe Africa begins at the Ukraine border. — P. J. O'Rourke Copy Share
![“Ever read any [Friedrich] Hayek? He's great. The Road To Serfdom is like... I'm not a big political-science reader, but I actually dog-eared my copy. I ended up going back through it and writing a précis, I was so impressed by this book. It's all about what happens when government tries to make…” quote by P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/2be/p-j-o-rourke-184_bigs_ever-read-any-friedrich-hayek-he-s-great_507817.jpg)
