Harry Browne quotes - page 3

The communitarians may say you've been enjoying too much individual freedom, and that you must give up some of that for the benefit of the community. But they really mean that they want more power over your life - to force you to subsidize, obey and conform to their choices. (Harry Browne)
It has long been apparent that many people in the media don't believe you're competent to make your own decisions. View quote
Harry Browne
I'm sorry that I can't snap my fingers and undo 50 years of bad American foreign policy. View quote
Harry Browne
The government's War on Poverty has transformed poverty from a short-term misfortune into a career choice. View quote
Harry Browne
If younger people see older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence people see is a demand for more government. View quote
Harry Browne
Communities don't think, don't believe, don't want, don't have needs, don't have interests and don't make decisions. Only individuals have minds that generate desires and needs - and only individuals can make choices and decisions. View quote
Harry Browne
Given the results of the government's War on Poverty and the War on Drugs, we can assume that a War on Abortion will lead within five years to men having abortions. View quote
Harry Browne
If you resist, their job will be to 'take you into custody' - which is a euphemism for seizing you, handcuffing you, and taking you to jail. At this point, it will be obvious that the regulation's purpose is to force barbers to charge at least $8 - not by persuasion, but with a gun. Every government program, no matter how benign it may appear, is the same. Coercion is the reason - and the only reason - it is a government program. View quote
Harry Browne
Once its considered proper to use government force to solve one person's problem, force can be justified to solve anyone's problem. View quote
Harry Browne
I call this The Dictator Syndrome. You see suffering or danger, and in your imagination you see a government program eliminating it. But in the real world the program would operate as you expect only if you were an absolute dictator - having at your disposal all the government's power to compel everyone to do things your way. View quote
Harry Browne
But coercion never produces harmony. How harmonious are people who are being forced to act against their will? Most likely, those who are coerced will resent those who benefit from the coercion. This sets group against group; it doesn't bring them together. (Harry Browne)
It is a mistake to define a libertarian as someone who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Never define libertarians in terms of conservatives or liberals. Conservative politicians are as fiscally imprudent as liberals, and liberal politicians are as contemptuous of individual rights as conservatives. View quote
Harry Browne
There already are 20,000 federal gun laws and regulations on the books. If those laws haven't made America safe by now, why should we think 20,001 laws will suffice? We shouldn't. Instead, we need to recognize that those 20,000 laws are a principal cause of the current violence in society. They have made our children and all innocent adults much less safe -- by disarming innocent citizens and encouraging armed criminals to take advantage of us. View quote
Harry Browne
I've concentrated upon the things I control, and used that control to remove the restrictions and complications from my life. View quote
Harry Browne
If an individual is required to give up his own happiness for society, of what value is society to him? View quote
Harry Browne
If someone says that giving is the key to happiness, isn't he saying that's the key to his happiness? To assume that his opinions are binding upon you is a common form of the Identity Trap. View quote
Harry Browne
When someone accuses you of being selfish, just remember that he's upset only because you aren't doing what he selfishly wants you to do. View quote
Harry Browne
There are also wide differences in tastes and desires. This, too, is fortunate. For these differences make the world orderly. If everyone wanted the same things, we would all be struggling against each other to acquire what little was available. Diversity is the source of harmony in human relationships. View quote
Harry Browne
People seek government action because they don't approve of what other people choose to do with their lives. They want to overrule the decisions others have made concerning the use of their own time and money. View quote
Harry Browne
I've heard it said that the Constitution is perfect but that the politicians create problems by ignoring it. But if the Constitution can't make the politicians respect it, of what value is it? It's interesting to talk about, but not really useful to your freedom. For, in practice, the Constitution is whatever the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court choose to think it is - and that may be considerably different from what you think it is. View quote
Harry Browne
Is the government getting too repressive? You could spend the rest of your life fighting it, but your actions won't change the fate of the nation. However, you can make sure the repression doesn't get in your way. (Harry Browne)
The existence of evil isn't a claim upon you. 'Evil' will always exist in the world. To accept as a principle that you must fight something because it is evil is to believe you must fight anything that's evil. There's no end to the number of evils that could command your attention. Is that all your life is for - to spend it fighting evil? View quote
Harry Browne
If everyone in your church or neighborhood is sure he knows exactly who and what God is, how to reach him, and what his rules for human behavior are, that isn't evidence of anything - except evidence that a lot of people say they hold that opinion. View quote
Harry Browne
It's easy to believe that you came into the world with a prearranged program you must follow. After all, long before you arrived, other people figured out how you should live, what laws you should obey, what your obligations are, the whole structure for a 'proper' life... Are you willing to give up the one life you have in order to conform to the way others think you should live? View quote
Harry Browne
Every person is the sovereign ruler of his own life. But few people ever recognize that fact. Those who do will make it their business to find freedom. Those who don't will invariably resign themselves to whatever 'society' makes available to them. View quote
Harry Browne