Quote

Government doesn't work. That's the first lesson we must learn if we want to improve society.

Harry Browne

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Harry Browne
Age: 72 †
Born: 1933
Born: June 17
Died: 2006
Died: March 1
Financial Analyst
Peace Activist
Politician
Radio Personality
Writer
New York City
New York
Harry Edson Browne
First
Lesson
Must
Improve
Work
Lessons
Society
Learn
Doesn
Government
Firsts

More quotes by Harry Browne

Image
If younger people see older people who haven't planned ahead and have to rely on charity, the young will be more likely to provide for the future. Today when someone plans poorly, the only consequence people see is a demand for more government.
Harry Browne
Image
A fair trial is one in which the rules of evidence are honored, the accused has competent counsel, and the judge enforces the proper courtroom procedures - a trial in which every assumption can be challenged.
Harry Browne
Image
I found that I was getting a warm reception for my message of freeing you from the income tax, releasing you from Social Security, ending the insane war on drugs, restoring gun rights, and reducing the federal government to just its constitutional functions.
Harry Browne
Image
If a law could keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be virtually no gun crime at all.
Harry Browne
Image
The marketplace is a wondrous institution. It harnesses the self-interest of each of us and puts it to work for the benefit of all. And it does so without intruding upon our desires, our privacy, or our freedom. It is regulation by reality, not by coercion.
Harry Browne
Image
The power of choice. You have it. But you forfeit it when you imagine that you can choose for others. You can't. But you can choose for yourself.
Harry Browne
Image
Communities don't think, don't believe, don't want, don't have needs, don't have interests and don't make decisions. Only individuals have minds that generate desires and needs - and only individuals can make choices and decisions.
Harry Browne
Image
When paper money systems begin to crack at the seams, the run to gold could be explosive.
Harry Browne
Image
When people do things for you, it's because they want to - because you, in some way, give them something meaningful that makes them want to please you, not because anyone owes you anything.
Harry Browne
Image
Once we realize that government doesn't work, we will stop dreaming that this or that social problem can be solved by passing a law - or by creating a new government program - or by electing someone who will make Washington more efficient or cost-conscious.
Harry Browne
Image
The police can't stop an intruder, mugger, or stalker from hurting you. They can pursue him only after he has hurt or killed you. Protecting yourself from harm is your responsibility, and you are far less likely to be hurt in a neighborhood of gun-owners than in one of disarmed citizens - even if you don't own a gun yourself.
Harry Browne
Image
Politicians are notoriously economically illiterate. And even when they know what would be the right thing, we don't really expect them to do it.
Harry Browne
Image
Left-wing politicians take away your liberty in the name of children and of fighting poverty, while right-wing politicians do it in the name of family values and fighting drugs. Either way, government gets bigger and you become less free.
Harry Browne
Image
But, actually, it is only Americans who say that our freedoms and prosperity are the reason foreigners hate us. If you ask the foreigners, they make it clear that it's America's bullying foreign policy they detest.
Harry Browne
Image
America rules the world - by force.
Harry Browne
Image
When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer.
Harry Browne
Image
You have only one life, and no one else will live it for you. Shouldn't you take the time right now to figure out what that life is all about?
Harry Browne
Image
Forcing people to be generous isn't humanitarian, effective, compassionate or moral. Only acts that are truly voluntary for all concerned can be truly compassionate.
Harry Browne
Image
It's wrong for someone to confiscate your money, give it to someone else, and call that compassion.
Harry Browne
Image
It isn't possible to give government just a little control over the economy and our lives. Once we cede that power to government, it uses the power to take more from us. That's why every year the government controls more of our lives.
Harry Browne