Harry Browne Quotes

16 Sourced Quotes

Whenever the government fails to prevent a plane crash, the event is cited as justification for having the government prevent plane crashes.

Harry Browne
But coercion never produces harmony. How harmonious are people who are being forced to act against their will? Most likely, those who are coerced will resent those who benefit from the coercion. This sets group against group; it doesn't bring them together.

Harry Browne
No one ever died from smoking marijuana, but millions of people have died by believing politicians. So why is marijuana outlawed while politicians are still legal?

Harry Browne
Since government supposedly can do whatever it sets out to do, the president should sign an executive order outlawing death. However, as with all other laws, Congress should be exempt.

Harry Browne
Conservatives are very upset at the idea of a single-mom family. But they do their best to create a lot of them by sending American men off to war to be killed.

Harry Browne
The free market punishes irresponsibility. Government rewards its.

Harry Browne
I say that the Second Amendment doesn't allow for exceptions — or else it would have read that the right "to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, unless Congress chooses otherwise." And because there are no exceptions, I disagree with my fellow panelists who say the existing gun laws should be enforced. Those laws are unconstitutional [and] wrong — because they put you at a disadvantage to armed criminals, to whom the laws are no inconvenience.

Harry Browne
The government that's strong enough to give you what you want by taking it from someone else is strong enough to take everything you have and give it to someone else.

Harry Browne
Given the results of the government's War on Poverty and the War on Drugs, we can assume that a War on Abortion will lead within five years to men having abortions.

Harry Browne
Once its considered proper to use government force to solve one person's problem, force can be justified to solve anyone's problem.

Harry Browne
So what is government? Very simply, it is an agency of coercion. Of course, there are other agencies of coercion—such as the Mafia. So to be more precise, government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices. Or to put it another way, government is society's dominant producer of coercion. The Mafia and independent bandits are merely fringe competitors—seeking to take advantage of the niches and nooks neglected by the government.

Harry Browne
I call this The Dictator Syndrome. You see suffering or danger, and in your imagination you see a government program eliminating it. But in the real world the program would operate as you expect only if you were an absolute dictator—having at your disposal all the government's power to compel everyone to do things your way.

Harry Browne
Government is good at one thing: It knows how to break your legs, hand you a crutch, and say, "See, if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk."

Harry Browne
I want government small enough to fit inside the Constitution.

Harry Browne
If you resist, their job will be to "take you into custody"—which is a euphemism for seizing you, handcuffing you, and taking you to jail. At this point, it will be obvious that the regulation's purpose is to force barbers to charge at least $8—not by persuasion, but with a gun. Every government program, no matter how benign it may appear, is the same. Coercion is the reason—and the only reason—it is a government program.

Harry Browne
Asset forfeiture is a mockery of the Bill of Rights. There is no presumption of innocence, no need to prove you guilty (or even charge you with a crime), no right to a jury trial, no right to confront your accuser, no right to a court-appointed attorney (even if the government has just stolen all your money), and no right to compensation for the property that's been taken.

Harry Browne