It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. —Murray Rothbard
Statists, in fact, are really opposed to charity. They often argue that charity is demeaning and degrading to the recipient, and that he should therefore be taught that the money is rightly his, to be given to him by the government as his due. An act of charity, when given voluntarily, is generally considered temporary and offered with the object of helping a man to help himself. But when the dole is ladled out by the State, it becomes permanent and perpetually degrading, keeping the recipients in a state of subservience. Anyone who considers private charity degrading must logically conclude that State charity is far more so. —Murray Rothbard
It is hardly “charity” to take wealth by force and hand it over to someone else. Indeed, this is the direct opposite of charity… Compulsory confiscation can only deaden charitable desires completely, as the wealthier grumble that there is no point in giving to charity when the State has already taken on the task. —Murray Rothbard
Men can become more moral only through rational persuasion, not through violence, which will, in fact, have the opposite effect. —Murray Rothbard
The State is an inherently illegitimate institution of organized aggression against the persons and properties of its subject. Rather than necessary to society… it lives parasitically off of the productive activities of private citizens. —Murray Rothbard
The libertarian insists that whether or not such practices are supported by the majority of the population… War is Mass Murder, Conscription is Slavery, and Taxation is Robbery —Murray Rothbard
Hemp and marijuana should be regulated like onions. If you can grow onion in your backyard, you can grow hemp or weed in your backyard. —Larry Sharpe
All these companies talking about social justice… but they’re not talking about North Korea or Hong Kong because they don’t want to offend China. They don’t care, none of them do, it’s all a lie. —Yeonmi Park
There are, to be sure, free spirits in the world, but their freedom, in the last analysis, is not much greater than that of a canary in a cage. They may leap from perch to perch; they may bathe and guzzle at their will; they may flap their wings and sing. But they are still in the cage… Democracy provides swarms of such men. —H.L. Mencken
How does something immoral, when done privately, become moral when it is done collectively? Furthermore, does legality establish morality? Slavery was legal; apartheid is legal; Stalinist, Nazi, and Maoist purges were legal. Clearly, the fact of legality does not justify these crimes. Legality, alone, cannot be the talisman of moral people. —Walter Williams
