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Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.

— Frédéric Bastiat The Law (1850)

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More quotes by Frédéric Bastiat

The State is the great fiction through which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else.

The State in Journal des débats (1848)

When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.

Economic Sophisms (1845)

This is done now; we desire that it be done better.

Justice and Fraternity (1848)

The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.

Do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?

The Law (1850)

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James H. Cone Speaking the Truth: Ecumenism, Liberation, and Black Theology (1986)

It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.

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Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

Attribution

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