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Governments don't protect you. They can't. All they can do is promise to make the person who hurts you pay for his crime — if they can catch him. The criminal won't pay you back, of course, so they punish him only as a deterrent to future crime. If you think the deterrent is working, why is crime always such a public issue?

— Harry Browne How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (1973)

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More quotes by Harry Browne

Freedom is more often lost by false assumptions than by the power of one's enemies.

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (1973)

We should never define Libertarian positions in terms coined by liberals or conservatives — nor as some variant of their positions.

Freedom is the opportunity to live your life as you want to live it.

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (1973)

If an individual is required to give up his own happiness for society, of what value is society to him?

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (1973)

Taking risks is an inherent part of life; it's only dangerous when you act as though you're not taking a risk.

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (1973)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Harry Browne (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.