It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.’ But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. —Murray Rothbard
Statists, in fact, are really opposed to charity. They often argue that charity is demeaning and degrading to the recipient, and that he should therefore be taught that the money is rightly his, to be given to him by the government as his due. An act of charity, when given voluntarily, is generally considered temporary and offered with the object of helping a man to help himself. But when the dole is ladled out by the State, it becomes permanent and perpetually degrading, keeping the recipients in a state of subservience. Anyone who considers private charity degrading must logically conclude that State charity is far more so. —Murray Rothbard
It is hardly “charity” to take wealth by force and hand it over to someone else. Indeed, this is the direct opposite of charity… Compulsory confiscation can only deaden charitable desires completely, as the wealthier grumble that there is no point in giving to charity when the State has already taken on the task. —Murray Rothbard
Men can become more moral only through rational persuasion, not through violence, which will, in fact, have the opposite effect. —Murray Rothbard
Since the State necessarily lives by the compulsory confiscation of private capital, and since its expansion necessarily involves ever-greater incursions on private individuals and private enterprise, we must assert that the State is profoundly and inherently anti-capitalist. —Murray Rothbard
The State is an inherently illegitimate institution of organized aggression against the persons and properties of its subject. Rather than necessary to society… it lives parasitically off of the productive activities of private citizens. —Murray Rothbard
The libertarian insists that whether or not such practices are supported by the majority of the population… War is Mass Murder, Conscription is Slavery, and Taxation is Robbery —Murray Rothbard
We are libertarians of the will as well as the intellect, of activity as well as theory, of real-world struggle as well as idealistic vision. Our goal is nothing less than the victory of liberty over the Leviathan state, and we shall not be deflected, we shall not be diverted, we shall not be suborned, from achieving that goal. Secure in the knowledge that we are in the right, inspired by the vision, determination and courage of our forbears, we dedicate ourselves to the noblest cause of all, the old American cause, of individual liberty. —Murray Rothbard
If you wish to know how libertarians regard the State and any of its acts, simply think of the State as a criminal band, and all of the libertarian attitudes will logically fall into place. —Murray Rothbard
