--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There can be no greater stretch of…" description: "\"“There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree they shall be..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg" --- # There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to… ![“There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree they shall be taught, and expropriate from the parents the funds to pay for the procedure.” quote by Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg) > ““There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree they shall be taught, and expropriate from the parents the funds to pay for the procedure.”” [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Seizing children and imposing state‑mandated education and funding is the ultimate abuse of arbitrary authority. **In simple terms:** State control over families is extreme abuse of power. Key Takeaway Guard against governmental overreach. Themes freedom family rights state power Mood critical defensive Type ethical political When to use this quote - legislative debates - school curriculum design - civil liberty advocacy - parental support groups Key Concepts authoritarianism education policy parental rights Questions to Reflect On - Should any state role in education be permissible? - How can we protect families while ensuring child welfare? A Different Perspective May not consider benefits of universal education. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) [Arbitrary power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arbitrary-power/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Compulsory education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compulsory-education/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Expropriate Parents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expropriate-parents-5026547/) [Extortion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extortion/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Libertarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/libertarian/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Parents Teach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parents-teach/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Seize Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seize-children-5026546/) [Statism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statism/) [Taught Expropriate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taught-expropriate-5026549/) [Taxation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxation/) [Taxes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taxes/) [Theft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theft/) [Voluntaryism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voluntaryism/) ## Related quotes > [There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than is required to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-is-required/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Do you think nobody would willingly entrust his children to you or pay you for teaching them? Why do you have to extort your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/do-you-think-nobody-would-willingly-entrust-his-children-to-you-or/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The power to determine the quantity of money... is too important, too pervasive, to be exercised by a few people, however public-spirited, if there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/the-power-to-determine-the-quantity-of-money-is-too-important-too/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [The most insupportable of tyrants exclaim against the exercise of arbitrary power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-l-estrange/the-most-insupportable-of-tyrants-exclaim-against-the-exercise-of/) [Roger L'Estrange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-l-estrange/) > [Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/nip-the-shoots-of-arbitrary-power-in-the-bud-is-the-only-maxim-which-2/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [It is true, indeed, that the national domain is ours. It is true it was acquired by the valor and with the wealth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-seward/it-is-true-indeed-that-the-national-domain-is-ours-it-is-true-it-was/) [William H. Seward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-seward/) > [Law and arbitrary power are at eternal enmity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/law-and-arbitrary-power-are-at-eternal-enmity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [ \[I\]f vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-sidney/i-f-vice-and-corruption-prevail-liberty-cannot-subsist-but-if-virtue/) [Algernon Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-sidney/) > [“...The arbitrary power of the Government is unlimited, and unexampled in history; freedom of the Press, of opinion and of movement are as thoroughly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-arbitrary-power-of-the-government-is-unlimited-and-unexampled-in/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [Arbitrary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-adams/arbitrary-power-is-like-most-other-things-which-are-very-hard-very/) [Abigail Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-adams/) > [Freedom under law is hard work. If rulers cannot be trusted with arbitrary power, it is up to citizens to raise their voices at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lewis/freedom-under-law-is-hard-work-if-rulers-cannot-be-trusted-with/) [Anthony Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lewis/) > [Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/arbitrary-power-is-most-easily-established-on-the-ruins-of-liberty/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Arbitrary power has seldom... been introduced in any country at once. It must be introduced by slow degrees, and as it were step by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/arbitrary-power-has-seldom-been-introduced-in-any-country-at-once-it/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Arbitrary power is the natural object of temptation to a prince, as wine and women to a young fellow, or a bribe to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/arbitrary-power-is-the-natural-object-of-temptation-to-a-prince-as/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [If vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/algernon-sidney/if-vice-and-corruption-prevail-liberty-cannot-subsist-but-if-virtue/) [Algernon Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/algernon-sidney/) ## More by Isabel Paterson > [“Newton was asked as a mathematician, not as a moralist. He replied 'Gentlemen, in applied mathematics, you must describe your unit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/newton-was-asked-as-a-mathematician-not-as-a-moralist-he-replied/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [But when the good people do know, as they certainly do, that three million persons (at the least estimate) were starved to death in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-when-the-good-people-do-know-as-they-certainly-do-that-three/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“But in a free enterprise economy, increased production increases the number of jobs. It might be said that one job creates another, which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/but-in-a-free-enterprise-economy-increased-production-increases-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“If Charles F. Kettering or Thomas Alva Edison or Henry Ford had been put to work digging ditches under duress, one could calculate approximately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-charles-f-kettering-or-thomas-alva-edison-or-henry-ford-had-been/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/every-politically-controlled-educational-system-will-inculcate-the/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Nothing increases the number of jobs so rapidly as labor-saving machinery, because it releases wants theretofore unknown, by permitting leisure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/nothing-increases-the-number-of-jobs-so-rapidly-as-labor-saving/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [If Americans should now turn back, submit again to slavery, it would be a betrayal so base the human race might better perish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/if-americans-should-now-turn-back-submit-again-to-slavery-it-would-be/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“The intrinsic nature of the power authorized was so little realized that this was called "free education," the most absolute contradiction of facts by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-intrinsic-nature-of-the-power-authorized-was-so-little-realized/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Right now it is a terrible thing to be a rugged individualist; but we don't know what else to be except a feeble nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/right-now-it-is-a-terrible-thing-to-be-a-rugged-individualist-but-we/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [“Why did the humanitarian philosophy of eighteenth century Europe usher in the Reign of Terror? It did not happen by chance; it followed from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/why-did-the-humanitarian-philosophy-of-eighteenth-century-europe/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than is required to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-is-required/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/most-of-the-harm-in-the-world-is-done-by-good-people-and-not-by-2/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [The craving for power is in itself a sign of inferior abilities and unfitness for responsibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/the-craving-for-power-is-in-itself-a-sign-of-inferior-abilities-and/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) > [Freedom is dangerous. Possibly crawling on all fours might be safer than standing upright, but we like the view better up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/freedom-is-dangerous-possibly-crawling-on-all-fours-might-be-safer/) [Isabel Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) [Explore all 62 Isabel Paterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/) ## More Anarchy quotes > [I'm in a business where there's complete anarchy. You can't control it - you can only react to it. The control that people traditionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-sorrell/i-m-in-a-business-where-there-s-complete-anarchy-you-can-t-control-it/) [Martin Sorrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-sorrell/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [So far I'm still standing on 'Sons of Anarchy' but all the rest of the people on the show have me in their crosshairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-pileggi/so-far-i-m-still-standing-on-sons-of-anarchy-but-all-the-rest-of-the/) [Mitch Pileggi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-pileggi/) > [“Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science and Bad Religion in a World Without God.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/anarchy-evolution-faith-science-and-bad-religion-in-a-world-without/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [Perhaps it is this theory of all work and no play that has made the Marxist such a very dull boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-read/perhaps-it-is-this-theory-of-all-work-and-no-play-that-has-made-the/) [Herbert Read](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-read/) > [Anarchy is the stepping stone to absolute power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/anarchy-is-the-stepping-stone-to-absolute-power/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [I think that if you run a big company, you've got to, four or five times a year, just say, 'Hey team, look, here's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-immelt/i-think-that-if-you-run-a-big-company-you-ve-got-to-four-or-five/) [Jeffrey R. Immelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-immelt/) > [Where you have no religion, you are sure to have no government, for as religion disappears, anarchy takes place and fixes a compleat Hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-morgan/where-you-have-no-religion-you-are-sure-to-have-no-government-for-as/) [Daniel Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-morgan/) > [What a comfort it is to feel that amid the chaos and anarchy which sweep the surface, God is holding fast the foundations on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-b-meyer/what-a-comfort-it-is-to-feel-that-amid-the-chaos-and-anarchy-which/) [F.B. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-b-meyer/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Would you like to do something good for the future of the human race; well, start killing some of its powerful members.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-brown/would-you-like-to-do-something-good-for-the-future-of-the-human-race/) [William C. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-brown/) > [“twenty-three years of RFRAs to produce anarchy,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corvino/twenty-three-years-of-rfras-to-produce-anarchy/) [John Corvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corvino/) > [Freedom is that faculty that enlarges the usefulness of all other faculties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-that-faculty-that-enlarges-the-usefulness-of-all-other/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) [Browse all 795 Anarchy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree they shall be taught, and expropriate from the parents the funds to pay for the procedure.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Isabel Paterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-to-seize/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anarchy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-to-seize/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4eb/isabel-paterson-11023_anarchy_there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbit_2320964.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them…” — Isabel Paterson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Isabel Paterson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-paterson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There can be no greater stretch...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-to-seize/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-paterson/there-can-be-no-greater-stretch-of-arbitrary-power-than-to-seize/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```