Milton Friedman Quotes

In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves.

The signers of the Declaration of Independence did not pledge their fortunes and sacred honor so the federal government could play 'helicopter parent' to a free people. They saw government as our shared project to secure liberty, doing a few big things and doing them well.

Freedom is the very essence of our economy and society. Without freedom the human mind is prevented from unleashing its creative force. But what is also clear is that this freedom does not stand alone. It is freedom in responsibility and freedom to exercise responsibility.

The job of the government isn't to go around and try and make people sacrifice, it's to try and make people free. The reason why we have a national defense is to protect our freedoms.

It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives.

Freedom only remains healthy if we think about the implications of what we do on a day-to-day basis.

The office of government is not to confer happiness, but to give men opportunity to work out happiness for themselves.

Freedom is good when the person can use it appropriately. Otherwise it is a disaster.

It's a free country. I know we have a lot of regulations in the world right now in what we can and can't do. I would rather our people be responsible and not have to be regulated.

The price of freedom is responsibility, but it's a bargain, because freedom is priceless.

The only thing I believe is individual responsibility doesn't mean the government is the answer to ever fear and every problem every individual has. We are the masters of our own destiny.

This freedom of which men speak, for which they fight, seems to some people a perilous thing. It has to be earned at a bitter cost and then — it has to be lived with. For freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility.

So long as men and women are free, no one is safe. People will be in danger because others can't operate vehicles responsibly or shoot straight. Because physicians are sometimes incompetent and lawyers dishonest. But most of all they will be in danger from ideas. It is the price we willingly pay to be free. Nor would we have it any other way.

Liberty is not a right but a duty.

Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.

It is your business to rise up and preserve the Union and liberty, for yourselves, and not for me. I desire they shall be constitutionally preserved.

Liberty trains for liberty. Responsibility is the first step in responsibility.

A true patriot does not confuse government with country. A patriot's loyalty is to his country, and loyalty to country requires holding government accountable.

[A] society which makes freedom its primary goal will lose it, because it has made, not responsibility, but freedom from responsibility, its purpose. When freedom is the basic emphasis, it is not responsible speech which is fostered but irresponsible speech.

I don't care how poor and inefficient a little country is - they like to run their own business. I know men that would -make my wife a better husband than I am but, darn it, I'm not going to give her to 'em.

Liberty is a duty, not a right.

You were born free by accident. You live free by choice. To die free is your responsibility.

Freedom is not a gift received from the State or leader, but a possession to be won every day by the effort of each and the union of all.

Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.

Freedom is choosing your responsibility. It's not having no responsibilitie s; it's choosing the ones you want.