Rand Paul Quotes

We encounter the dilemma of freedom versus authority in all sorts of places but probably nowhere more frequently than in the area of Big Brother's ongoing efforts to protect us from ourselves – efforts that many people view as an invasion of their privacy or as infringement upon their God-given right to be stupid (though they don't usually put it that way).

Even if a person is doing nothing wrong, in a free society, that person shouldn’t have to justify every action that government officials might view as suspicious. A key component of freedom is not having to worry about how to explain oneself all the time.

I'm convinced that you never have to give up liberties to be safe. I think you're less safe when you give up your liberties.

The state has no place in the nation's bedrooms.

The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedoms.

How to strike the right balance between our privacy and our expectation that the state will protect us and facilitate our freedom is one of the most difficult challenges facing us all.

If the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.

I certainly respect privacy and privacy rights. But on the other hand, the first function of government is to guarantee the security of all the people.

Privacy, in my point of view, is a civil liberty that our Founding Fathers thought of a long time ago and concluded ... was an essential part of what it was to be an American.

I believe that it is critical for this country to have a zone of privacy —– for everyone,

There is growing use of government intrusion into your creative space…. The government is able to see more deeply into our intellectual lives.

The issue of wiretapping raises the issue of the balance between human liberty and the requirements of national security. I would say that the weight should be on the side of human liberty and that if human liberty is ever to be infringed, the demonstration on the national security side must be overwhelming.

It doesn’t keep us safe and it doesn’t keep us free if we give up our liberties to the government.

When people fear surveillance, whether it exists or not, they grow afraid to speak their minds and hearts freely to their government or to anyone else.

The federal government has no right to treat all Americans as criminals by spying on their relationship with their doctors, employers, or bankers.

Homeland security intelligence done the wrong way will give us thought police.

If we give up all our privacy rights, have we become any safer?

If we take away all our privacy rights, we become our own terrorists.

I’d rather risk being a terrorists victim than live under a surveillance state.

I think mass surveillance is a bad idea because a surveillance society is one in which people understand that they are constantly monitored.

Saying that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say.

I don't think anybody else from my generation had federal agents standing at their door with a badge and a gun, saying: 'You are going to answer my questions'.

I have a personal belief that you never have to give up liberty for security. You can still provide security without sacrificing our Bill of Rights.

Millions of people have to restore liberty and have to understand the danger and personal risk they face in a police state.

Those who would give up their civil liberties for security deserve neither.