Murray Rothbard Quotes

Laws that do not embody public opinion can never be enforced.

If it be said that the consent of the strongest party in a nation, is all that is necessary to justify the establishment of a government that shall have authority over the weaker party, it may be answered that the most despotic governments in the world rest upon that very principle, viz.: the consent of the strongest party.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

It should be remembered, as an axiom of eternal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government is independent, is absolute also; in theory only, at first, while the spirit of the people is up, but in practice, as fast as that relaxes. Independence can be trusted nowhere but with the people in mass.

It is pluralism, not secularism, that defines democracy. A democratic state can be established upon any normative moral framework as long as pluralism remains the source of its legitimacy

Any law that takes hold of a man’s daily life cannot prevail in a community, unless the vast majority of the community are actively in favor of it.

What is the government? Nothing, unless supported by opinion.

The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

Our nation is built on the bedrock principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The only reason of the institution of civil government; and the only rational ground of submission to it, is the common safety and utility.

Democracy may mean something more than a theoretically absolute popular government, but it assuredly cannot mean anything less.

The only power deserving the name is that of masses, and of governments while they make themselves the organ of the tendencies and instincts of masses.

Government exists to protect the interests of the powerful from the will of the people.

The will of the people makes governments legitimate.

The will of the people is the source and the happiness of the people the end of all legitimate government upon earth.

If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so, and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of the matter.

No government can long be secure without a formidable Opposition.

In our system of government, nobody has the last word except the people.

Their ideas may contradict the sense of the whole people; hence the consequence that instructions are binding on the representative is of a doubtful, if not a dangerous nature.

Resolved-1st, That the People are the source of all legitimate power; and, That We are the People.

Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors

Arab governments, at the end of the day, care most about remaining in power.

All governments must maintain power by consent. Not by coercion.

If certain selected bodies of men, deputed on these principles, determine contrary to the wishes and expectations of their constituents, the people have an undoubted right to reject their decisions, to call for a revision of their conduct, to depute others in their room, or if they think proper, to demand further time for deliberation on matters of the greatest moment: …