Skip to content

James Bovard Quotes

born 1956 United States

James Bovard (born 1956) is a bestselling libertarian author and lecturer, whose political commentary targets examples of waste, failures, corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in government.

United States
Columnists
Journalists
Political authors

Random James Bovard quote

39 quotes

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner.

Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty (1994)

A democratic government that respects no limits on its power is a ticking time bomb, waiting to destroy the rights it was created to protect.

The arrogance of power is the best hope for the survival of freedom.

The Patriot Act treats every citizen like a suspected terrorist and every federal agent like a proven angel.

A lie that is accepted by a sufficient number of ignorant voters becomes a political truth.

Paternalism is a desperate gamble that lying politicians will honestly care for those who fall under their power.

It is impossible to destroy all alleged enemies of freedom everywhere without also destroying freedom in the United States.

Citizens should distrust politicians who distrust freedom.

Democracy unleashes the State in the name of the people.

Truth is a lagging indicator in politics.

In the long run, people have more to fear from governments than from terrorists. Terrorists come and go, but power-hungry politicians will always be with us.

The more that democracy is assumed to be inevitable, the more likely it will self-destruct.

A law is simply a reflection of the momentary perception of self-interest by a majority of a legislative body.

The federal tax system is turning individuals into sharecroppers of their own lives.

“Fair trade” is a moral delusion that could be leading to an economic catastrophe.

It should not be a federal crime to charge low prices to American consumers.

Killing foreigners is no substitute for protecting Americans.

People have been taught to expect far more from government than from freedom.

The surest effect of exalting government is to make it easier for some people to drag others down.

The growth of government is like the spread of a dense jungle, and the average citizen can hack through less of it every year.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: James Bovard (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.