What Liberty Actually Is
“Liberty lies in the rights of that person whose views you find most odious.”
— H. L. Mencken
Liberty is not comfort. It is restraint—especially when restraint is inconvenient.
Liberty vs. Control
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
— Benjamin Franklin
A warning repeated so often it risks becoming ceremonial—and ignored anyway.
Liberty Requires Limits on Power, Not People
“The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.”
— Thomas Jefferson
Liberty erodes quietly, one reasonable exception at a time.
Liberty and Individual Judgment
“Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”
— John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Liberty assumes adults are capable of choice—even imperfect ones.
Liberty Is Not Equality of Outcome
“A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither.”
— Milton Friedman
Liberty produces differences. Systems that cannot tolerate difference cannot tolerate liberty.
Liberty and Law
“The purpose of Law is to prevent the strong from harming the weak—not to prevent the weak from becoming strong.”
— Frédéric Bastiat
When Law exceeds that purpose, liberty shrinks.
Liberty and Responsibility