It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.

Every country has the government it deserves.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.