CHAPTER XVI

FREEDOM AND FORCE – SOME APHORISMS

 

To repress noninvasive acts is tyranny.

 

Feudal lords were serfs to their autocrats, and autocrats to their serfs.

 

An authoritarian bows under those above, and over those beneath.

 

A tyrant is the slave mind elevated to power.

 

Scum, as well as cream, gets to the top.

 

The slave relies on a master; a free man is self-reliant.

 

Power corrupts individuals as well as corporations.

 

A just man will not command; a free man will not obey.

 

The enemies of liberty are the real enemies of society.

 

A servant often is transformed into a tyrant when elevated to power.

 

Public freedom is derived from individual freedom.

 

The ideal of liberty is dimmed by the acquisition of power.

 

Without its being exercised, there is no life in liberty.

 

It takes ability to induce; any fool can govern with force.

 

Force and not freedom should be shackled.

 

Oppression benefits the few; liberty benefits the many.

 

Equal freedom is mutual freedom; absolute freedom is unequal freedom.

 

It is beneficial to have ‘liberty to do everything but invade. Invasion is the sum total of perversity.

 

Force is justified only to repel invasion. Liberty is the only foundation on which a modern nation can long stand.

 

When you value liberty for liberty’s sake, you will value the liberty of others.

 

Injustice and invasion cannot endure when the people learn to love liberty.

 

To do as you like, if you like to invade, is not equal freedom.

 

A majority that believes in or accepts tyranny is as bad as any Czar who imposes it.

 

It takes courage to fight for freedom; any coward can submit to tyranny.

 

To deny the freedom of some is to endanger the freedom of all.

 

Liberty and tyranny are irreconcilable enemies.

 

Liberty has been defeated more often than tyranny, but it must not surrender.

 

Authoritarians hate Libertarians as nocturnal beasts hate light.

 

All true men and women have a passion for liberty.

 

Real life and liberty are inseparable.

 

Society imitates; the individual initiates.

 

Next to life is the liberty to live it.

 

To get and to grant equal freedom is the only safety for society.

 

Self-reliance is not developed by tractability.

 

Liberty is a young and tender plant that needs cultivation; tyranny is a tough old thistle that needs rooting up .

 

In trying to remedy one defect the authoritarians often create a dozen more.

 

Is the reasoning man to be controlled and directed by the unreasonable majority? If so, when will reason prevail?

 

He who desires to live the life of another admits his own is a failure.

 

Why is it not good for you to do what you want, instead of doing what the other fellow wants done? .

 

Freedom to you means freedom from my rule. Freedom for me means freedom from your rule.

 

A good moral code is this: “If it is Libertarian, it is good; if it is Authoritarian, it is bad.”

 

An authoritarian feels no more need for liberty than a burglar does for honesty.

 

Advancements are made by individuals; reactions are made by societies.

 

Government of the non-invasive is tyranny. Unfettered self-government is lib€1’CY·

 

Where the principles of freedom are denied, it is absurd to speak of a free society.

 

A free society will be a voluntary association of individuals, not a federation by force.

 

Authority is limited only by power; liberty is limited only by equity.

 

Oppression means to be governed by others; liberty means governing yourself.

 

Customs are upheld by conformists; advancement is made by nonconformists.

 

The individual is not free if society is bound; society is not free if the individual is bound.

 

Characters differ as much as looks. Why not suppress difference in looks, as well as difference in ideas.

 

Tyranny may be a benefit to the tyrant, but liberty is a benefit to all others.

 

Among ignorant people, tyranny is as strong as it is unjust; among enlightened people, liberty is as strong as it is just.

 

If oppression is good, there should be no freedom. If freedom is good, there should be no oppression.

 

The splendor of tyranny is in the past; the splendor of liberty is in the future.

 

Fallen nations have recovered to the extent they have restored liberty.

 

Some animals kill their young in captivity; some people breed children for industrial slavery.

 

Do not intrust your liberty to another; it might be to his interest to enslave you.

 

A golden rule is: “Mind your own business.”

 

The only justifiable force is force used defensively against force used aggressively.

 

If happiness is the object of life, then one must have the freedom to seek it in all non-invasive ways.

 

The reactionary is like the mule: he is stubbornly backward about coming forward.

 

The man who will not defend life and liberty is not worthy of either.

 

A Libertarian will not impose a rule on another, nor permit another to impose a rule on him.

 

Permit the individual to do what he believes to be right, if it does not injure another.

 

Some people can only be happy alone; others only co-operatively; both must have freedom to live their lives in their own way.

 

The world needs a collective mental independence, and the way to get it is to establish and maintain the independence of the individual against the dictation of the mob.

 

Animals do not kill one of their kind that varies from the type, but human beings that vary from the standard are often crucified by their kind. It is nature’s mandate that we vary from one another, but institutions demand uniformity.