No person, I think, ever saw a herd of buffalo, of which a few were fat and the great majority lean. No person ever saw a flock of birds, of which two or three were swimming in grease, and the others all skin and bone.

That alone is wise which is just; that alone is enduring which is right.

Capital is a result of labor, and is used by labor to assist it in further production. Labor is the active and initial force, and labor is therefore the employer of capital.

What protectionism teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.

It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.

That which is unjust can really profit no one; that which is just can really harm no one.

The state, it cannot too often be repeated, does nothing, and can give nothing, which it does not take from somebody.