...the argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason read more

...the argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from doing better.

All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.

All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.

There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the read more

There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

No one has a right to happiness.

No one has a right to happiness.

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.

In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.

When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.

The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither read more

The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither accorded him a superior status to sustain his confidence nor made it easy for him to acquire an unquestioned sense of social usefulness. For he derives his sense of usefulness mainly from directing, instructing, and planning- from minding other people's business- and is bound to feel superfluous and neglected where people believe themselves competent to manage individual and communal affairs, and are impatient of supervision and regulation. A free society is as much a threat to the intellectual's sense of worth as an automated economy is to the workingman's sense of worth. Any social order that can function with a minimum of leadership will be anathema to the intellectual.

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
Latin: "A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's read more

Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
Latin: "A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Letters to Lucilius.