Henry Hazlitt Quotes

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives

I do not subscribe to the doctrine that the people are the slaves and property of their government. I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.

A government role in our society should be inherently suspect …. There is something inherently coercive in the nature of government.

Big government makes small citizens.

The way I look at it is this, as Republicans, we look for less government interference in our lives.

The chief duty of government is to keep the peace and stand out of the sunshine of the people.

People are probably going to realize they can live with a lot less government than what they thought they needed.

I stand today on this floor to appeal for protection from the strong arm of the government for her loyal children, irrespective of color and race, who are citizens of the southern states, and particularly of the State of Georgia.

That government is best which governs least.

In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere.

To establish republican government, it is necessary to effect a constitution in which the will of the nation shall have an organized control over the actions of its government, and its citizens a regular protection against its oppressions

In a free society, the ‘vision thing’ is left to private individuals; civil servants are kept on a tight leash, because free people understand that a ‘visionary’ bureaucrat is a voracious one and that the grander the government... the poorer and less free the people.

Governments regard their own citizens as their main enemy, and they have to be - protect themselves. That's why you have state secret laws. Citizens are not supposed to know what their government is doing to them.

I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.

There's an old saying that the government is your partner from birth, but they don't get to come to all the meetings.

As soon as we surrender the principle that the state should not interfere in any questions touching on the individuals mode of life, we end by regulating and restricting the latter down to the smallest details.

If the believers in liberty wish the principles of liberty taught, let them never intrust that instruction to any government; for the nature of government is to become a thing apart, an institution existing for its own sake, preying upon the people, and teaching whatever will tend to keep it secure in its seat.

We've gone astray from first principles. We've lost sight of the rule that individual freedom and ingenuity are at the very core of everything that we've accomplished. Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

The federal government should be less important in our lives, not more.

It is certain, I think, that the best government is the one that governs the least. But there is a much-neglected corollary: the best citizen is the one who least needs governing.

An individual citizen cannot protect himself from the powers of large corporations or external governments. It is the responsibility of the government to protect its citizens.

Our rights are not granted by governments. They are inherent to our nature. But it's entirely the opposite for governments: their privileges are precisely equal to only those which we suffer them to enjoy.

The FDA calls certain substances "controlled." But there are no "controlled substances," there are only controlled citizens.

I believe the role of government is to stand side by side with our citizens to help them realize their dreams, not tell citizens how to live their lives.