Harry Browne Quotes & Sayings

The American heritage was one of individual liberty, personal responsibility and freedom from government ... Unfortunately ... that heritage has been lost. Americans no longer have the freedom to direct their own lives ... Today, it is the government that is free - free to do whatever it wants. There is no subject, no issue, no matter ... that is not subject to legislation. — Harry Browne

No one ever died from smoking marijuana, but millions of people have died by believing politicians. — Harry Browne

A great burden was lifted from my shoulders the day I realized that no one owes me anything. — Harry Browne

In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties. — Harry Browne

Government cripples you, then hands you a crutch and says, 'See, if it wasn't for us, you couldn't walk.' — Harry Browne

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

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

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

Conservatives say the government can't end poverty by force, but they believe it can use force to make people moral. Liberals say government can't make people be moral, but they believe it can end poverty. Neither group attempts to explain why government is so clumsy and destructive in one area but a paragon of efficiency and benevolence in the other. — Harry Browne

Once we realize that government doesn't work, we'll know that the only way to improve government is by reducing its size - by doing away with laws, by getting rid of programs, by making government spend and tax less, by reducing government as far as we can. — Harry Browne

The problem is big government. If whoever controls government can impose his way upon you, you have to fight constantly to prevent the control from being harmful. With small, limited government, it doesn't much matter who controls it, because it can't do you much harm. — Harry Browne

For most of our history, Americans enjoyed both liberty and security from foreign threats. — Harry Browne

The best kept secret in the investing world: Almost nothing turns out as expected. — Harry Browne

Profit is a reward for satisfying the desire of someone else. — Harry Browne

You owe it to yourself to be the best person possible. Because if you are, others will want to be with you, want to provide you with the things you want in exchange for what you're giving to them. — Harry Browne

The best thing we can do for family values is to repeal the income tax. Then families will have the resources they need to implement their own values - and not those of the politicians. With the income tax gone, families will no longer be forced to have two breadwinners by necessity. Children will be raised better, family values will predominate, and crime will diminish. If your local school indoctrinates your child with values that are alien to you, you'll have the money to buy a private education. — Harry Browne

Being a politician means never having to say you're sorry. You don't have to say, 'I never should have voted to subsidize that ridiculous Enron project in India.' ... After all, they're greedy businessmen and you're a selfless public servant. — Harry Browne

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

If the Fed had a war on abortion like its war on poverty or war on drugs, within five years men would be having abortions! — Harry Browne

Most politicians believe in just one thing - winning elections. They'll say anything to get in office and stay there. — Harry Browne

Give government the weapons to fight your enemy and it will use them against you. — Harry Browne

Once upon a time, government budgets were balanced, our money was sound, the streets were safe, and taxes imposed by all levels of government took less than 10% of our income. — Harry Browne

Each person is living for himself; his own happiness is all he can ever personally feel. — Harry Browne

He doesn't sacrifice himself for others, nor does he expect others to be sacrificed for him. He takes the third alternative - he finds relationships that are mutually beneficial so that no sacrifice is required. — Harry Browne

There are no violent gangs fighting over aspirin territories. There are no violent gangs fighting over whisky territories or computer territories or anything else that's legal. There are only criminal gangs fighting over territories covering drugs, gambling, prostitution, and other victimless crimes. Making a non-violent activity a crime creates a black market, which attracts criminals and gangs, which turns what was once a relatively harmless activity affecting a small group of people into a widespread epidemic of drug use and gang warfare. — Harry Browne

From the cranberry cancer scare of the 1950s to the Alar-in-apples hysteria of the 1980s, from the "new ice age" of the 1960s to the "global warming" of the 1990s, environmental alarms almost always turn out to be false. Few non-political scientists fear ozone loss, global warming, or acid rain. These are just issues that some people hope to use to reorder the lives of the rest of us. — Harry Browne

your balance sheet is an indication of how much you have served others ~ in terms of their standards, their values, their desires. Don't ever forget that happiness is relative. Your idea of what's good for someone else may not be shared in the slightest by that someone.
Understand, too, that I am not saying you ought to be considerate of others or that it is ethical to make people happy. It is a simple fact of life that if you do not make people happy, they aren't going to do business with you ~ on any basis. — Harry Browne

The Bill of Rights is a literal and absolute document. The First Amendment doesn't say you have a right to speak out unless the government has a 'compelling interest' in censoring the Internet. The Second Amendment doesn't say you have the right to keep and bear arms until some madman plants a bomb. The Fourth Amendment doesn't say you have the right to be secure from search and seizure unless some FBI agent thinks you fit the profile of a terrorist. The government has no right to interfere with any of these freedoms under any circumstances. — Harry Browne

[Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964], many governments in southern states forced people to segregate by race. Civil rights advocates fought to repeal these state laws, but failed. So they appealed to the federal government, which responded with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But this federal law didn't simply repeal state laws compelling segregation. It also prohibited voluntary segregation. What had been mandatory became forbidden. Neither before nor after the Civil Rights Act were people free to make their own decisions about who they associated with. — Harry Browne

Whatever the price, identify it now. What will you have to go through to get where you want to be? There is a price you can pay to be free of the situation once and for all. It may be a fantastic price or a tiny one - but there is a price. — Harry Browne

Give politicians power and it certainly will be abused eventually - if not by today's politicians, then by their successors. — Harry Browne

Everyone will experience the consequences of his own acts. If his act are right, he'll get good consequences; if they're not, he'll suffer for it. — Harry Browne

America rules the world - by force. — Harry Browne

The important thing is to concentrate upon what you can do - by yourself, upon your own initiative. — Harry Browne

Disarmed citizens encourage crime and violence. Armed citizens encourage criminals to find a safer line of work. — Harry Browne

I have no temptation to vote, to campaign, to try and stop a candidate who promises new follies. — Harry Browne

Government seems to operate on the principle that if even one individual is incapable of using his freedom competently, no one can be allowed to be free. — Harry Browne

you're wrong, you will suffer for it. If you're right, you will find happiness. You have to be the one to decide. "Who are you to know?" It's your future at stake. You have to know. Freedom comes only from seeing the ignorance of your critics and discovering the emptiness of their virtue. - David Seabury — Harry Browne

You are where you are today because you have chosen to be there. — Harry Browne

The answer is simple: You are you, the person who will live with the consequences of what you do. No one else can be responsible, because no one else will experience the consequences of your actions as you will. — Harry Browne

You don't have to buy from anyone. You don't have to work at any particular job. You don't have to participate in any given relationship. You can choose. — Harry Browne

An individual might say, "I don't want to change anyone." And yet, he might still spend a great deal of his time trying to get others to agree with his views, or trying to prevent someone from doing something he thinks will be bad for him, or trying to change people by participating in a movement over a burning issue, or voting to prevent others from doing what they want to do. In all these ways, he's trying to change others - to make them do other than what their natures lead them to do. — Harry Browne

Those who wish that success would fall into their laps will wish forever. But those who look at the world as it is, who recognize that the consumer is king, who take the trouble to find out what the consumer wants ~ these men make fortunes. People will always reward them ~ because people will not want to be without their services. — Harry Browne

The seeds of today's runaway government were planted when it was decided that government should help those who can't help themselves. From that modest, compassionate beginning to today's out-of-control mega-state, there's a straight, unbroken line. Once the door was open, once it was settled that the government should help some people at the expense of others, there was no stopping it. — Harry Browne

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

The press is hostile to the idea of liberty. Most people in the press are for big government. Most people think that the solution to anything, whether it's health care problems, education, whatever it is - it's got to be more government. — Harry Browne

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

The problem with politics isn't the money; it's the power. — Harry Browne

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

A welfare state is frightened of every poor person who tries to get in and every rich person who tries to get out. — Harry Browne

So what is government? ... Very simply, it is an agency of coercion. Of course, there are other agencies of coercion - such as the Mafia. So to be more precise, government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices. — Harry Browne

Democratic politicians want to solve the crisis of poor education by taking more of your money and using it to reduce classroom sizes in the government schools. Republican politicians want to solve the crisis by taking more of your money to provide vouchers to a handful of the poorest students in each area, paying for a part of the tuition expense at private schools. But before long this 'reform' would make those private schools indistinguishable from the government schools ... Vouchers are an excellent way for the government to increase control over private schools. — Harry Browne

The first step in trying to get along with other people is to realize that each is doing what he wants to do. Examine his actions, uncover the motives for his acts, find out why he wants to do as he does. And, as we'll see further along, this will give you the opportunity to earn his respect and cooperation to an extent that others can never obtain. — Harry Browne

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

Since no one but you can know what's best for you, government control can't make your life better. — Harry Browne

It is not how long you work at some task that determines what you'll receive for it in exchange. It is the value someone else places upon the product or service that determines what it is worth in exchange.


Your "costs" are not important to the other person. He only cares about the value of the product to himself. What he'll pay to get your service is based solely on the value he places upon the object — Harry Browne

Republicans campaign like Libertarians and govern like Democrats. — Harry Browne

World War II has always been of great interest to me. I've known for decades that it was just one more war the politicians suckered us into. — Harry Browne

The American way was for commerce, personal relationships, and religion to be voluntary. No one was forced to participate in something he didn't want. — Harry Browne

The more directly individual rewards are tied to individual achievements, the greater incentive there is to increase one's individual effort. Joint Efforts — Harry Browne

Our government, taxes, and ideas of freedom are already duplicates of the Old World. Our politicians determine how we should live our lives - and our individual liberties are sacrificed for the benefit of the Fatherland. — Harry Browne

Not only can no one predict the future, we don't understand the present - and there isn't even any certainty about the past. — Harry Browne

And when someone accuses you of being selfish, just remember that he's upset only because you aren't doing what he selfishly wants you to do. — Harry Browne

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

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

Everything you want in life has a price connected to it. There's a price to pay if you want to make things better, a price to pay just for leaving things as they are, a price for everything. — Harry Browne

Insurance is meant for extraordinary circumstances. You don't use car insurance to pay for oil changes or gasoline; you have it as protection in case you have a terrible accident or your car is stolen. You don't use homeowners' insurance to pay your electricity and water bills; you have it as protection in case a fire or other catastrophic event produces a large expense. Obviously, any insurance policy that promises to cover every small, ordinary expense is going to be much more expensive than one that covers only extraordinary expenses. — Harry Browne

A secure individual ... knows that the responsibility for anything concerning his life remains with himself-and he accepts that responsibility. — Harry Browne

The Bill of Rights isn't some legalistic fine print. It was written to make our lives freer, more prosperous, and happier. By forsaking it, America has become no better than any other country in the world. — Harry Browne

Whenever I say that America has become an empire, someone is sure to say I'm being ridiculous. — Harry Browne

The coercive power of government is always a beacon to those who want to dominate others
summoning the worst dregs of society to Washington to use that power to impose their will upon others. — Harry Browne

The government is good at one thing. It knows how to break your legs, and then hand you a crutch and say, "See if it weren't for the government, you wouldn't be able to walk". — Harry Browne

Social Security is a fraudulent scheme in which the government collect money from you for your retirement - and immediately spend the money on something else. — Harry Browne

The communitarians may say you've been enjoying too much individual freedom, and that you must give up some of that for the benefit of the community. But they really mean that they want more power over your life - to force you to subsidize, obey and conform to their choices. — Harry Browne

So when you approach any individual, make sure you realize that he will do what he wants to do. Don't laugh at his choices; investigate them to better understand what he's trying to accomplish.
If you wish to trade, you will have to offer the person something he wants more than what he has already. It's his resources you are seeking. He will control their use. You will have to be in tune with his desires or there will be no exchange.
The consumer is the object of the whole process. And he chooses in terms that are meaningful to him (not to you). You will succeed only as you find ways to satisfy him. — Harry Browne

The income tax is the biggest single intrusion suffered by the American people. It forces every worker to be a bookkeeper, to open his records to the government, to explain his expenses, to fear conviction for a harmless accounting error. Compliance wastes billions of dollars. It penalizes savings and creates an enormous drag on the U.S. economy. It is incompatible with a free society, and we aren't libertarians if we tolerate it. — Harry Browne

I'm sorry that I can't snap my fingers and undo 50 years of bad American foreign policy. — Harry Browne

Government is force, pure and simple. There's no way to sugar-coat that. And because government is force, it will attract the worst elements of society - people who want to use government to avoid having to earn their living and to avoid having to persuade others to accept their ideas voluntarily. — Harry Browne

Some people object to libertarian ideas because there are too many irresponsible people in the world - people who will cause trouble if the government doesn't restrain them. — Harry Browne

A Libertarian society of unfettered individualism spreads its benefits to virtually everyone - not just those who have the resources to seize political power. — Harry Browne

Immigrants used to come to America seeking freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom from government. Now they come looking for free health care, free education, and a free lunch. — Harry Browne

Contrary to all the blather we here about the unique goodness of the American people or our religious heritage or anything else, the one thing that set this country apart from all others was the Bill of Rights. — Harry Browne

If I could give you just one thing, I'd want it to be a simple truth that took me many years to learn. If you learn it now, it may enrich your life in hundreds of ways. And it may prevent you from facing many problems that have hurt people who have never learned it.

The truth is simply this:

No one owes you anything. — Harry Browne

A little government involvement is just as dangerous as a lot - because the first leads inevitably to the second. — Harry Browne

While most people in TV, radio, and the press have treated me wonderfully, some of the most important people want to pretend I don't exist. — Harry Browne

Security ... it's simply the recognition that changes will take place and the knowledge that you're willing to deal with whatever happens. — Harry Browne

When you give politicians the power to do what you think is right you're automatically giving politicians the power to do what you think is wrong. — Harry Browne

There's nothing shameful in acknowledging that you don't have the answers to every question about life. Just accept the fact that you know only a fraction of what's going on in the world. You don't have to attach explanations in terms of a special revelation of God's will, a glimpse at the supernatural, evidence of a conspiracy, or anything else. — Harry Browne

I'm old enough to remember the end of World War II. On Aug. 14, 1946, a year after the Japanese were defeated, most newspapers and magazines had single articles commemorating the end of the war. — Harry Browne

The Constitution isn't written in Chinese, Swahili or Sanskrit. It's in plain English. — Harry Browne

One person devotes his life to helping the poor. Another one lies and steals. Still another person tries to create better products and services for which he hopes to be paid handsomely. One woman devotes herself to her husband and children. Another seeks a career as a singer. In every case, the basic motivation has been the same. Each person is doing what he believes will bring him happiness. What varies between them is the means each has chosen to gain his happiness. — Harry Browne

In my experience, people who are truly compassionate rarely use the word "compassion." Those who do talk compassion generally intend to be compassionate with your money, not their own. It's wrong for someone to confiscate your money, give it to someone else, and call that 'compassion'. — Harry Browne

When you know that you're capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer. — Harry Browne

Voluntary association produces the free market - where each person can choose among a multitude of possibilities. — Harry Browne

It is well known that in war, the first casualty is truth - that during any war truth is forsaken for propaganda. — Harry Browne

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

Like many people, most Libertarians feel empathy and sympathy for less fortunate people. But they know you can't have perfection in a world of limited resources. — Harry Browne

I am running for president because it is obvious that no Democrat or Republican is ever going to stop the relentless growth of the federal government. only a Libertarian is going to set you free. — Harry Browne

Asset forfeiture is a mockery of the Bill of Rights. There is no presumption of innocence, no need to prove you guilty (or even charge you with a crime), no right to a jury trial, no right to confront your accuser, no right to a court-appointed attorney (even if the government has just stolen all your money), and no right to compensation for the property that's been taken. — Harry Browne

When you give up the hope that some advisor, some system, some source of inside tips is going to give you a shortcut to wealth, you'll finally begin to gain control over your financial future. — Harry Browne