Civilization is the process of substituting liberty for power.

Being able to do whatever we want to do is the most precious natural gift that we possess, but doing only what we ought to do is the only adequate expression of our gratitude for it.

Individual liberty may be unable to solve every social problem, but collective violence is unable to solve any social problem.

The greatest obstacle to liberty is not the existence of evil rulers, but the belief in the existence of good rulers.

To create a free society is not to accomplish the impossible task of convincing all people to abandon aggression, but to accomplish the essential task of convincing enough people to abandon the belief that aggression is ever legitimate.

To eliminate statism is not to physically subdue the rulers, but to mentally liberate the ruled.

A slave believes that the law should define the scope of liberty. A free person believes that liberty should define the scope of the law.

The goal of libertarianism is not to permit people to be free, but to make them realize that they don't need anyone's permission to be free.

A libertarian is someone who graduated from thinking that there are problems with the state to realizing that the state is the problem.