Ron Paul Talks abt Freedom (13 QUOTES)

* It is clear, people seek out safety and security when they are in a state of fear, and it is the result of this psychological state that often leads to the surrender of liberty.
* To calm fears, Americans accepted the patriot act and the doctrine of pre-emptive war. We tolerated new laws that allow the government to snoop on us, listen to our phone calls, track our financial dealings, make us strip down at airports and even limited the rights of habeas corpus and trial by jury. Like some dysfunctional episode of the twilight zone, we allowed the summit of our imagination to be linked up with the pit of our fears.
* Paranoia can be treated, but the loss of liberty resulting from the social psychology to which we continue to subject ourselves is not easily reversed.
* Americans must reflect on their irrational fears if we are to turn the tide against the steady erosion of our freedoms. Fear is the enemy. The logically confusing admonition to “fear only fear” does not help, instead we must battle against irrational fear and the fear-mongers who promote it.
* It is incumbent on a great nation to remain confident, if it wishes to remain free. We need not be ignorant to real threats to our safety, against which we must remain vigilant. We need only to banish to the ash heap of history the notion that we ought to be ruled by our fears and those who use them to enhance their own power.
* All initiation of force is a violation of someone else's rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it's supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals.
* I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.
* Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.
* Respect for individual liberty and dignity is the only answer to government force, force that serves the politically and economically powerful.
* The federal government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying on their relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers.
* The worthy goals of civilization can only be achieved by freedom loving individuals.
* Only in a free society do individuals have the best chance to seek virtue, strive for excellence, improve their economic well-being, and achieve personal happiness
* Liberty once again must become more important to us than the desire for security and material comfort.
* Personal safety and economic prosperity can only come as the consequence of liberty.
* It is much more important to protect individual liberty and privacy than to make government even more secretive and powerful.
* The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, Constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
* All initiation of force is a violation of someone else’s rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it’s supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals. Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.
* Nothing would please the terrorists more than if we willingly give up some of our cherished liberties while defending ourselves from their threat.
* Demanding domestic security in times of war invites carelessness in preserving civil liberties and the right of privacy. Frequently the people are only too anxious for their freedoms to be sacrificed on the altar of authoritarianism thought to be necessary to remain safe and secure.
* Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home. More likely the opposite is true.
* We need to understand that the more government spends, the more freedom is lost.
* So you want equal justice. And this is not hard for me to argue, because if you really are compassionate and you care about people, the freer the society the more prosperous it is, and more likely that you are going to have medical care
* Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.
* I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.
* Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.
* Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.
* Failure of government programs prompts more determined efforts, while the loss of liberty is ignored or rationalized away.
* Whether it’s the war against poverty, drugs, terrorism, or the current Hitler of the day, an appeal to patriotism is used to convince the people that a little sacrifice of liberty, here and there, is a small price to pay. The results, though, are frightening and will soon become even more so.
* For our economy to remain competitive in the world, we must remember what it is to be truly free. We must lift the regulatory shackles threatening to sink our industries into oblivion. Free trade begins with freedom domestically, and we can't afford to lose that.
* Do they think if we destroy our freedoms for the terrorists they will no longer have a reason to attack us? This seems the epitome of cowardice coming from those who claim a monopoly on patriotic courage.
* Criminalizing even the vilest hateful thoughts--as opposed to willful criminal acts--is inconsistent with a free society.
* Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home. More likely the opposite is true.
* Do we really want to live in a world of police checkpoints, surveillance cameras, and metal detectors? Do we really believe government can provide total security? Do we want to involuntarily commit every disaffected, disturbed, or alienated person who fantasizes about violence? Or can we accept that liberty is more important than the illusion of state-provided security?
* Freedom is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.
* Government cannot create a world without risks, nor would we really wish to live in such a fictional place. Only a totalitarian society would even claim absolute safety as a worthy ideal, because it would require total state control over its citizens' lives. Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.
* Freedom does work.
* The problem is that politicians are not supposed to have power over us-- we're supposed to be free.
* We seem to have forgotten that freedom means the absence of government coercion. So when politicians and the media celebrate political power, they really are celebrating the power of certain individuals to use coercive state force.
* Free societies always have strong, independent institutions that are not afraid to challenge and criticize the government.
* When we cut the size of government, our taxes will fall. When we reduce the power of the federal bureaucracy, the cost of government will plummet. And when we firmly fix our eyes, undistracted, on the principles of liberty, Americans truly will be free. That should be our new declaration.
* We should not forget that peace and prosperity are best secured by a government that secures liberty for its citizens.
* The best formula for securing liberty is limited government at home and a noninterventionist foreign policy abroad.
* The greatest casualty of centralized government decision-making is personal liberty.
* When a politician talks about freedom for this group or that, ask yourself whether he is advocating more government action or less.
* Government cannot instill morality in the American people. On the contrary, rigid, centralized, government decision-making is indicative of an apathetic and immoral society.
* Don't we remember than when you sacrifice liberty for security, you lose both?
* If we intend to use the word freedom in an honest way, we should have the simple integrity to give it real meaning: Freedom is living without government coercion.
* If we hope to remain free, we must cut through the fog and attach concrete meanings to the words politicians use to deceive us. We must reassert that America is a republic, not a democracy, and remind ourselves that the Constitution places limits on government that no majority can overrule.
* Every politician on earth claims to support freedom. The problem is so few of them understand the simple meaning of the word.
* Most of all, talk with your friends, family, and colleagues about the underlying issue of whether the state owns your kids. Remind them that freedom can be maintained only when state power is limited, especially when it comes to fundamental freedoms over our bodies and minds.
* Everything we have done in response to the 9-11 attacks, from the Patriot Act to the war in Iraq, has reduced freedom in America. Spending more money abroad or restricting liberties at home will do nothing to deter terrorists, yet this is exactly what the 9-11 Commission recommends.
* Those who signed the Declaration of Independence envisioned a nation based on the rule of law and the right of individuals to live their lives free from oppression. To a degree perhaps unimaginable to that band of radical idealists, their vision has come to pass over these two centuries.
* The freedom we enjoy today is the direct result of the commitment of men and women who refused to compromise their ideals. Certainly they failed at times, but they understood that the goal was liberty.
* We can reclaim our independence not with guns, but with our voices. We can reject creeping statism and encourage the blessings of liberty for our land. It will require work, and it will require commitment, and it will require a willingness to stand firm for our beliefs. But that is a small price to pay compared to the sacrifices made by those who founded America.
* Liberty, freedom, and self-determination. Those goals are as worthy of our attention today as they were 228 years ago in a hot convention hall in Philadelphia. Just as devotion to those goals brought forth this great nation then, a renewed adherence to liberty can save our nation today.
* Our Founding Fathers felt freedom was worth their "lives, fortunes, and sacred honor." Do we?
* The greatest gift we can send overseas is a demonstration of the freedom and prosperity possible only with limited government and the rule of law.
* The freedom message brings us together. It doesn't divide us.
* When government ostensibly attempts to promote culture, it always further erodes liberty.
* The true antidote to racism is liberty.
* Liberty means having a limited, Constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.
* In a free market, businesses that discriminate lose customers, goodwill, and valuable employees- while rational businesses flourish by choosing the most qualified employees and selling to all willing buyers.
* In a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct what is essentially a sin of the heart, we should understand that reducing racism requires a shift from group thinking to an emphasis on individualism.
* Freedom over one's physical person is the most basic freedom of all, and people in a free society should be sovereign over their own bodies.
* Without liberty and property rights, the human spirit diminishes. More freedom always means more prosperity, which is why American enjoys a much higher level of material well-being than almost any other nation.
* The sad irony is that while our soldiers have fought for the freedom of Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, and Iraq, the government uses war to steadily diminish freedom here at home. While we fight a war in Iraq, we must also fight to maintain and restore individual liberty in America.
* Freedom works a lot better than tyranny.
* We cannot remain free if we allow the endless, undeclared war on terror to serve as an excuse for giving up every last vestige of our privacy.
* Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves what kind of society we hope to leave our children and grandchildren. A civilized and free society would not be discussing, much less seriously debating, any proposal to enlist private citizens to act as federal neighborhood snitches.
* Ultimately we cannot make ourselves safer simply by creating new departments, spending more taxpayer money on federal police, or sending more troops into yet another foreign land. Real homeland security requires a reexamination of our policies and priorities abroad, and a commitment to the Constitution at home.
* Freedom and prosperity cannot coexist with socialism and endless war. Yet socialism and endless war are exactly what most in Washington are promoting.
* America's heart and soul is more imbedded in our love for liberty, self-reliance, and tolerance than by our foreign policy, driven by powerful special interests with little regard for the Constitution.
* Speech is speech, regardless of the setting. There is no legal distinction between religious expression and political expression; both are equally protected by the First amendment. Religious believers do not drop their political opinions at the door of their place of worship, nor do they disregard their faith at the ballot box.
* A society that does not respect life cannot be expected to respect liberty.
* The fight to preserve and restore liberty seems endless, and it is tempting for liberty-minded Americans to feel overwhelmed by the battle. Oftentimes the outlook from Washington appears bleak; new threats to freedom arise constantly. Yet while freedom indeed requires eternal vigilance, we also must remember to take time to reflect upon and celebrate our great fortune as American citizens.
* Our freedom is our greatest national treasure and resource. Countless thousands have died protecting it in wars; countless others have risked everything to reach American soil.
* Liberty is the cornerstone upon which the greatness of America is based.
* We must choose between liberty and collectivism. If we continue to choose collectivism, we must expect the inevitable political and economic crises which will result.
* In the United States, the people should never be asked to sacrifice their liberties to make the job of government a little easier. The government is here to protect the freedom of the American people, not to invade their privacy in the name of efficient government.
* We would do better to promote freedom around the world by paying better attention to our rapidly eroding freedom here at home.
* For some, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. For others, it means dissent against a government abuse of the people's rights.
* Our government was originally designed to protect our liberties, but it has now instead become the usurper of those liberties.
* The true patriot challenges the state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of the individual.
* Understanding the magnificent rewards of a free society makes us unbashful in its promotion, fully realizing that maximum wealth is created and the greatest chance for peace comes from a society respectful of individual liberty.
* The greatest danger we face is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a people made fearful by distortions of facts. Fighting over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home. More likely the opposite is true.
* Virtually all American wars have led to diminished civil liberties at home.
* One of the major reasons we've drifted from the Founders vision of liberty in the Constitution was the division of the concept of freedom into two parts. Instead of freedom being applied equally to social and economic transactions, it has come to be thought of as two different concepts. Some in Congress now protect economic liberty and market choices, but ignore personal liberty and private choices. Others defend personal liberty, but concede the realm of property and economic transactions to government control.
* While going around the world criticizing admittedly abhorrent governmental actions abroad we are ignoring the very dangerous erosions of our own civil liberties and way of life at home.
* We don't get our rights because we're gays or women or minorities. We get our rights from our creator as individuals. So every individual should be treated the same way.
* You know, freedom is a very popular idea, and young people love it, and they're open to ideas. And they like principled answers to our problems.
* The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideals of liberty.
* Freedom is popular.
* The freedom message brings us together; it doesn't divide us.
* As free people we should choose who to buy from or where to travel, not our government.
* Personal liberty means tolerance as well, because what your neighbor might do, might be different than what you do. And you might not like what they do. But if your neighbor or your friends do things that you don't approve of, but they don't affect you, they don't hurt you, if they don't use force on you, they should be permitted to do this.
* Our job is to take responsibility for ourselves to improve our well-being and to improve and work with excellence, and that's what freedom is all about.
* This idea of personal liberty which might allow individuals to do things that others might not approve of is also exactly the liberty that we need to practice our religion and keep the government off our backs.
* What I'd like to be is a president that doesn't even have a goal of running your life, running the economy, or running the world.
* Freedom works!
* We have lived, and been blessed to live, in a country that has been really great. We are fortunate that we had the founders that we did, that understood what personal liberty was all about.
* You know, I don't know how this'll end. That is the truth. I could come up here and say, "I absolutely know how it's gonna turn out." I don't know, you don't know, but I do know that the message is good. The message of liberty is good.
* The message of liberty is what America’s all about.
* Freedom doesn't give you perfection. But everybody who's responsible for their selves, their house, their household, or their private property should provide the protection.
* The philosophy of freedom has had a tough go of it.
* The more restrained the state and the more emphasis on individual liberty, the greater has been the advancement of civilization and general prosperity.
* Power, politics and privilege prevail over the rule of law, liberty, justice and peace. But it does not need to be that way.
* In a historical context, liberty is a modern idea and must once again regain the high moral ground for civilization to advance.
* None should be pleased with the steady attack on the civil liberties of all American citizens and the now-accepted consensus that preemptive war for almost any reason is an acceptable policy for dealing with all the conflicts and problems of the world.
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.
* A few have, and others will continue to do so, but too many傭oth in and out of government幼lose their eyes to the issue of personal liberty and ignore the fact that endless borrowing to finance endless demands cannot be sustained.
* True prosperity can only come from a healthy economy and sound money. That can only be achieved in a free society.
* Because federal hate crime laws criminalize thoughts, they are incompatible with a free society.
* I want to be your President to restore liberty.
* I'm really saying yes to what has made America great.
* Failure of government programs prompt more deterimned efforts, while the loss of liberty is ignored or rationalized away.
* We get high off the idea of freedom.
* Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.
* The moral and Constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.
* The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence.
* The obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.
* Failure of government programs prompts more determined efforts, while the loss of liberty is ignored or rationalized away. Whether it’s the war against poverty, drugs, terrorism, or the current Hitler of the day, an appeal to patriotism is used to convince the people that a little sacrifice of liberty, here and there, is a small price to pay. The results, though, are frightening and will soon become even more so.
* “The obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.”
* Liberty has meaning only if we still believe in it when terrible things happen and a false government security blanket beckons.
* The moral and Constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.
* People just love the message of liberty.
* The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government.
* There is no reason why the federal government needs to know how much money you make or how many bathrooms you have in your home. This information is personal and private, and I am committed to restoring to Americans the peace of mind that comes from knowing that every detail of their lives is not being recorded.
* It is much more important to protect individual liberty and privacy than to make government even more secretive and powerful.
* Demanding domestic security in times of war invites carelessness in preserving civil liberties and the right of privacy. Frequently the people are only too anxious for their freedoms to be sacrificed on the altar of authoritarianism thought to be necessary to remain safe and secure.
* The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government.
* Government is supposed to be there to protect property and protect privacy.
* I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card.
* We don’t get our rights because we’re gays or women or minorities. We get our rights from our creator as individuals. So every individual should be treated the same way.
* While fear itself is not always the product of irrationality, once experienced it tends to lead away from reason, especially if the experience is extreme in duration or intensity. When people are fearful they tend to be willing to irrationally surrender their rights.