Frederic Bastiat Quote

"In short, is not liberty the freedom of every person to make full use of his faculties, so long as he does not harm other persons while doing so? Is not liberty the destruction of all despotism -- including, of course, legal despotism? Finally, is not liberty the restricting of the law only to its rational sphere of organizing the right of the individual to lawful self-defense; of punishing injustice?"

by:	Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) [Claude Frederic Bastiat] French economist, statesman, and author. He did most of his writing during the years just before -- and immediately following -- the French Revolution of February 1848
Source:	What Is Liberty? "The Law" by Frederic Bastiat (1848) http://liberty-tree.ca/research/TheLaw
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Categories:	Liberty, Respect, Honor, Integrity, Self-Determination, Self-Preservation, Self-Reliance, Defense, Justice, Due Process, Injustice, Despotism, Freedom, Rights
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He sure sounded like a Libertarian to me.  -- Jim k, Austin      2
Logical reasoning, " Rational sphere of organizing the right of the Individual to Lawful self-defense; of punishing injustice ? Peter carried a sword in the garden, and I think very much so, he was not the only one !!!!!!!!!!!!! The restricting of ( Man made laws ) by way of democratic vote, affording legalized plunder and that that would infringe upon Individual Liberty at Nature Law.  -- Ronw13, Yachats Or      3
YES ! ! ! Absolutely, We hold this truth to be self evident ! ! !  -- Mike, Norwalk      4
"Liberty [is] the restricting of the law only to its rational sphere of organizing the right of the individual to lawful self-defense." There it is folks, the quintessential foundation of republican government. It all starts with the natural born right (and dare I say, responsibility) to defend oneself against predators. All 'legislation' (called 'laws') are to serve this purpose, not transfer our responsibility to the government (which is nothing more than other citizens with the same rights).  -- E Archer, NYC      5
Most sublimely, to be free to be free is to be liberated from licentiousness, thus to do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way and at the right time.  -- Patrick Henry, Red Hill      3
More Brilliant and sound Wisdom from the French Economist, Frederic Bastiat  -- Mary - MI      2
-- jim k, Austin
The terms we use for behavioral prescription fit more characteristically maturely along the lines of cure and correction.  Punishing injustice, for example, is a immature vindictiveness notion that promotes escalation and continued chaotic violence. We correct the circumstances. Our species exists due to imperfections, but we surely must strive for excellence, and only tolerance and mercy will allow our species to reach this advanced stage.  And with this faithful ensuing date August 9th about to arrive along with the 6th of August, its been 80 years that we placed our species' fate in the hands of Japanese.   -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown      1

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