Best Libertarian Thoughts

562 Libertarian quotes by 298 unique authors

The price of liberty is, in addition to eternal vigilance, eternal patience with the vacuous blather occasionally expressed from behind the shield of free speech. — Michael Shermer
... In a free society, skeptics are the watchdogs against irrationalism - the consumer advocates of ideas. Debunking is not simply the divestment of bunk;… — Michael Shermer
Companies like Enron have learned that small investments in endowing chairs, sponsoring research programs or hiring moonlighting professors can return big payoffs in generating books,… — Ralph Nader
A properly functioning free market system does not spring spontaneously from society's soil as crabgrass springs from suburban lawns. Rather, it is a complex creation… — George Will
Though editorialists at The New York Times and The Washington Post still don't get it, most Democrats in Congress finally do: Today's trade disputes are… — Robert Kuttner
Populism is the simple premise that markets need to be restrained by society and by a democratic political system. We are not socialists or communists,… — Molly Ivins
One of the great weaknesses of standard libertarian theory is that it tends to push too hard by elevating presumptions into absolutes. — Richard Allen Epstein
One cannot overstate the childishness of the ideas that feed and stir the masses. Real ideas must as a rule be simplified to the level… — Sebastian Haffner
The key reason executives are paid so much now is that they appoint the members of the corporate board that determines their compensation and control… — Paul Krugman
How is property given? By restraining liberty; that is, by taking it away so far as necessary for the purpose. How is your house made… — Jeremy Bentham
The function of State coercion is to override individual coercion, and, of course, coercion exercised by any association of individuals within the State. It is… — Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse
No one doubts that pure libertarianism is simple, but that's just why it remains on the ideological fringe - because it boils down the most… — Ross Douthat
Although it is true that only about 20 percent of American workers are in unions, that 20 percent sets the standards across the board in… — Molly Ivins
One of the failings of ideologues is their inability to see that everyone else isn't necessarily an ideologue like them. — Josh Marshall
The original Greek word "idiotes" referred to people who might have had a high IQ, but were so self-involved that they focused exclusively on their… — Jim Hightower
He always pictured himself a libertarian, which to my way of thinking means "I want the liberty to grow rich and you can have the… — Isaac Asimov
[I]f one asks what substantive contributions [F. A. Hayek] made to our understanding of how the world works, one is left at something of a… — Paul Krugman
In philosophical terms, the opposite of rationalism is not irrationalism but empiricism, that is, a willingness to form beliefs on the basis of experience rather… — John Quiggin
The point of taxation isn't that the government knows better than you how to spend your money - it's that the government, by virtue of… — Jesse Taylor
Some libertarians succeed by re-inventing the wheel. Most libertarians fail by re-inventing the flat tire. — Mike Cloud
The absurdity of public-choice theory is captured by Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen in the following little scenario: "Can you direct me to the railway… — Linda McQuaig
It seems strange to make a priori arguments about the relative performance of governments and the markets in health care when there is so much… — John Quiggin
Throughout the history of the Internet, most of the innovation has come as a by-product of efforts to facilitate communication within social groups of various… — John Quiggin
Liberty and equality, spontaneity and security, happiness and knowledge, mercy and justice - all these are ultimate human values, sought for themselves alone; yet when… — Isaiah Berlin
Personally I prefer a liberal dictator to democratic government lacking liberalism. — Friedrich August von Hayek

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