102 Quotes by Larken Rose

"The entire notion of “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” while it makes nice feel-good political rhetoric, is a logical impossibility. A ruling class cannot serve or represent those it rules any more than a slave owner can serve or represent his slaves."

"On the contrary, being a moral person requires taking on the personal responsibility of judging right from wrong and following one’s own conscience, the opposite of respecting and obeying “authority."

"Note the drastic contrast between the usual connotations of those terms – “anarchy” sounding scary and violent, “law and order” sounding civilized and just – and the real-world results of following conscience versus following rulers. The level of evil committed by individuals acting on their own is completely dwarfed by the level of evil committed by people obeying a perceived “authority."

"It’s amazing the amount of anger, hostility and hatred some people show towards those of us who want to leave them in freedom. Hysterically, some statists characterize that as the voluntaryists trying to “force” their views on everyone else. “You’re oppressing me, by leaving me alone, and wanting me to leave you alone!” Meanwhile, they wildly cheer when some politician promises to extort and control them. Go figure."

"One who begs for lower “taxes” is implicitly agreeing that it is up to the politicians how much a man may keep of what he has earned."

"When the people recognize and accept no master, they will have no master. Ultimately, their bondage, and the means to escape it, exists entirely inside their own minds."

"When the people actually want true freedom, they will achieve it without the need for any election or revolution."

"When enough people understand reality, tyrants can literally be ignored out of existence. They can’t ever be voted out of existence."

"Any “government” that had the consent of its subjects would not need, and would not have, “law” enforcers. Enforcement happens only if someone does not consent to something."

"True freedom and self-ownership is the simplest, most self-evident thing in the world. It’s so obvious that people have to be constantly trained to not see it. It’s the belief in authority that depends upon mental gymnastics, ignoring obvious contradictions, and engaging in ridiculously complex and convoluted rationalizations, to try to justify one group of people ruling another."