You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the read more

You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

Government, in its very essence, is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against read more

Government, in its very essence, is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against change...[T]he progress of humanity, far from being the result of government, has been made entirely without its aid and in the face if its constant and bitter opposition.

"I'm so insane, I voted for Eisenhower." "Oh yeah, well I'm so insane, I voted for Eisenhower TWICE!".

"I'm so insane, I voted for Eisenhower." "Oh yeah, well I'm so insane, I voted for Eisenhower TWICE!".

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.

A conservative is a man who believes that nothing should be done for the first time.

A conservative is a man who believes that nothing should be done for the first time.

Progress is precisely that which the rules and regulations did not foresee.

Progress is precisely that which the rules and regulations did not foresee.

They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have read more

They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have boldly affirmed that "one man is as good as another;" a maxim that is true in neither nature, revealed morals, nor political theory.

To say that a farm boy knows how to milk a cow is to say that we can send him read more

To say that a farm boy knows how to milk a cow is to say that we can send him out to the barn with an empty pail and expect him to return with milk. To say that a criminologist understands crime is not to say that we can send him out with a grant or a law and expect him to return with a lower crime rate. He is more likely to return with a report on why he has not succeeded yet, and including the inevitable need for more money, a larger staff, more sweeping powers, etc.

Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the read more

Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the absolute despot turns men into clay.