Ron Paul Quotes & Sayings

The idea that the government has services or goods that they can pass on is a complete farce. Governments have nothing. They can't create anything, they never have. All they can do is steal from one group and give it to another at the destruction of the principles of freedom, and we ought to challenge that concept. — Ron Paul

If you drink too much, you go out and you harm to somebody, you have to suffer the consequences. Same way with health matters. You don't have the right to demand that someone else take care of you because of your habits. — Ron Paul

If you sacrifice liberty for security, you will lose both. — Ron Paul

Terror is a tactic. We can not wage "war" against a tactic. — Ron Paul

Must there always be "wars and rumors of war"? Accepting the inevitability of war is one thing, but glorifying war in the name of God and claiming that it reflects strong character and patriotism is quite another. — Ron Paul

In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, however, we are in big trouble. — Ron Paul

Scientifically, there's no debate over whether the fetus is alive and human. — Ron Paul

Who's married and who isn't married. I have my standards but I shouldn't have to impose my standards on others. Other people have their standards and they have no right to impose their marriage standards on me. — Ron Paul

I never would force the Justice Department to go to California and arrest people getting medical marijuana, when that's the law there. — Ron Paul

The woman was probably six months along in her pregnancy, and the child she was carrying weighed over two pounds. At that time doctors were not especially sophisticated, for lack of a better term, when it came to killing the baby prior to delivery, so they went ahead with delivery and put the baby in a bucket in the corner of the room. The baby tried to breathe, and tried to cry, and everyone in the room pretended the baby wasn't there. — Ron Paul

The most basic principle to being a free American is the notion that we as individuals are responsible for our own lives and decisions. We do not have the right to rob our neighbors to make up for our mistakes, neither does our neighbor have any right to tell us how to live, so long as we aren't infringing on their rights. Freedom to make bad decisions is inherent in the freedom to make good ones. If we are only free to make good decisions, we are not really free. — Ron Paul

It's not like I'm just trying to win and get elected. I'm trying to change the course of history. — Ron Paul

I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe. — Ron Paul

Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon. — Ron Paul

I had the privilege of practicing medicine in the early '60s, before we had any government. It worked rather well, and there was nobody on the street suffering with no medical care. — Ron Paul

If Iran invaded Israel, it's up to Congress to declare war. — Ron Paul

Without precise meanings behind words, politicians and elites can obscure reality and condition people to reflexively associate certain words with positive or negative perceptions. In other words, unpleasant facts can be hidden behind purposely meaningless language. — Ron Paul

The notion of a rigid separation between church and state has no basis in either the text of the Constitution or the writings of our Founding Fathers. On the contrary, our Founders' political views were strongly informed by their religious beliefs. — Ron Paul

As an O.B. doctor of thirty years, and having delivered 4,000 babies, I can assure you life begins at conception. — Ron Paul

We can achieve much more in peace than we can ever achieve in these needless, unconstitutional, undeclared wars. — Ron Paul

We don't need any troops abroad-they don't help our defense. — Ron Paul

Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed, — Ron Paul

No one talks about the real ethics disaster in Washington. It's that many members of Congress will listen to any argument against a bill except for two: that it's not moral or that it's not Constitutional. — Ron Paul

A citizen walking through the airport today is bombarded with 1984-style propaganda messages that are designed to make us fear some amorphous threat and also be suspicious of others. The government designs these messages to make us feel dependent and heavily lorded over in every aspect of our lives. These messages are becoming ever more pervasive, hitting us even in grocery stores when we are shopping. — Ron Paul

Times of tragedy and war naturally bring out strong emotions ... Sometimes people are only too anxious to sacrifice their constitutional liberties during a crisis, hoping to gain some measure of security. Yet nothing would please terrorists more than if we willingly gave up our cherished liberties because of their actions. — Ron Paul

I take my marching orders from the Constitution. — Ron Paul

Both sides of the political spectrum must one day realize that limitless government intrusion in the economy, in our personal lives, and in the affairs of other nations cannot serve the best interests of America. — Ron Paul

Allowing the war-prone individuals, bent on evil, to gain power in governments must be one of the most significant reasons that wars erupt. Individuals with prowar inclinations are naturally aggressive and seek power over others. As Friedrich Hayek argued in his book The Road to Serfdom, "the worst get on top." The power seekers also convince themselves that they are superior to average people and have a moral responsibility to use force to mold the world as they see fit. The propaganda is that war is for the sake of "goodness and righteousness." Isabel Paterson described it in her book The God of the Machine as "the humanitarian with a guillotine." Those who are more prone to peace tend to be complacent and to not resist the propaganda required to mobilize otherwise peaceful people to fight and die for the lies told and the false noble goals proposed by the self-appointed moral leaders. — Ron Paul

I have a personal belief that you never have to give up liberty for security. You can still provide security without sacrificing our Bill of Rights. — Ron Paul

Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country and giving it to the rich people of a poor country. — Ron Paul

Back a hundred years ago, especially around Woodrow Wilson, what happened in this country is we took freedom and we chopped it into pieces. — Ron Paul

I'm worried that the government might kill Edward Snowden with a drone.
Ron Paul — Ron Paul

When it comes to the environment and global warming from emissions, it has to be dealt with in one of two ways - preemptive regulations, which I don't agree with, or with private property principles. Nobody has the right to pollute their neighbors' air or water or land. — Ron Paul

I'm all for raw milk. I think you should make your own choice on whether you drink raw milk or not. — Ron Paul

Of course I've already taken a very modest position on the monetary system, I do take the position that we should just end the Fed. — Ron Paul

If two parties with two sets of bad ideas cooperate, the result is not good policy, but policy that is extremely bad. What we really need are correct economic and politcal ideas, regardless of the party that pushes them. — Ron Paul

You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws. — Ron Paul

It still amazes me how complicit the media are in propagandizing for war. This is true whether it's a Republican or Democratic-leaning entity. Both sides spout the lies delivered by government officials to encourage public support for wars. Whether the president is a Republican or a Democrat, the media will be supportive. It just may be that the owners of the large media entities are closely connected to the military-industrial complex. — Ron Paul

Truth is treason in the empire of lies. — Ron Paul

The Fourth Amendment is clear; we should be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, and all warrants must have probable cause. Today the government operates largely in secret, while seeking to know everything about our private lives - without probable cause and without a warrant. — Ron Paul

Some people charge that Obama is a socialist. He isn't a socialist in the precise sense of the word. He supports corporate medicine, central banking and international banking elites, the military-industrial complex, and, with great exuberance, the surveillance-industrial complex. — Ron Paul

H. L. Mencken said, The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule. — Ron Paul

Even if you don't like guns and don't want to own them, you benefit from those who do. — Ron Paul

As recent as the year 2000 we won elections by saying we shouldn't be the policemen of the world, and that we should not be nation building. And its time we got those values back into this country. — Ron Paul

Our goals can only be achieved with a society that respects and equally protects the rights of every human being, old and young, rich and poor, regardless of gender, color, race, or creed. We must reject the initiation of violence by individuals or government as morally repugnant. — Ron Paul

The freer the market is and the more respect you have for private property, the better the environment is protected. — Ron Paul

The only thing we should prohibit is violence. — Ron Paul

I'm not sure what Al Gore did for peace. I don't think he have been high on my list for the Nobel Peace Prize. — Ron Paul

The theory of the IRS is rather repugnant to me because the assumption is made that I, the government, owns 100% of your income and I permit you to keep 5%, 10% or 20%. You're vulnerable, you've sold out. The government can take 80% if they want, which they did at one time. — Ron Paul

You don't have freedom because you are a hyphenated American; you have freedom because you are an individual, and that should be protected. — Ron Paul

I believe that when we overdo our military aggressiveness, it actually weakens our national defense. I mean, we stood up to the Soviets. They had 40,000 nuclear weapons. Now we're fretting day in and day and night about third-world countries that have no army, navy or air force. — Ron Paul

If we stuck to the Constitution as written, we would have: no federal meddling in our schools; no Federal Reserve; no U.S. membership in the UN; no gun control; and no foreign aid. We would have no welfare for big corporations, or the "poor"; no American troops in 100 foreign countries; no NAFTA, GAT, or "fast-track"; no arrogant federal judges usurping states rights; no attacks on private property; no income tax. We could get rid of most of the agencies, and most of the budget. The government would be small, frugal, and limited. — Ron Paul

There is nothing wrong with describing Conservatism as protecting the Constitution, protecting all things that limit government. Government is the enemy of liberty. Government should be very restrained. — Ron Paul

We should have a strong president. Strong enough to resist the temptation of taking power that a president shouldn't have. — Ron Paul

Secession is a deeply American principle. This country was born through secession. — Ron Paul

The last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if they want to lift themselves out from underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of the dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would all be without it, there is no force that can stop them. — Ron Paul

But propaganda, fear, and threats of being accused of being unpatriotic and treasonous are powerful means of controlling the young soldiers who are told their fighting is crucial for the country's survival. It's the young soldiers who must risk and even lose their lives. It's the typical politicians, who have been around for thousands of years, who have continued the carnage with their humanitarian lies and demands for wars. — Ron Paul

I think it's a theory, the theory of evolution and I don't accept it as a theory. — Ron Paul

Sanctions are not diplomacy. They are a precursor to war and an embarrassment to a country that pays lip service to free trade. — Ron Paul

Currently we're suffering from the fear instilled into Americans that another 9/11 is just around the corner. We've also been brainwashed into believing the Federal Reserve just saved us from a total financial collapse in the past seven years even though the Fed was one of the most important causes of the crisis. To deal with the threats of another attack and another financial crisis we are expected to complacently accept endless spending, endless debt, endless bailouts, endless inflation by the Federal Reserve, endless spending by the Congress, and even endless war. — Ron Paul

The ultimate solution is not in the hands of the government. The solution falls on each and every individual, with guidance from family, friends and community. The #1 responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government; that is secondary to promoting a virtuous society. If we can achieve this, then the government will change. — Ron Paul

Remember, politicians get votes by promising everything to everyone, always at the expense of some other invisible taxpayers. — Ron Paul

Government is the enemy of conservatism and freedom. — Ron Paul

We'd love it if we could all just come home and not worry about the rest of the world. But the problem is, they attacked us on 9/11. We were here; they attacked us. — Ron Paul

There's a a right to privacy for all individuals and all who have legal rights - and that includes the unborn. As an obstetrician, if I cause any harm to a fetus, I will be sued. If someone kills or harms a fetus they're liable in a court of law. — Ron Paul

I have this terrible habit of wanting to try to be consistent and develop a philosophy that's coherent. — Ron Paul

I do not have much confidence in the political system and never did. My goal has always been to change people's minds because as long as people demand more government, they will get it. — Ron Paul

For those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do. — Ron Paul

I like Mitt Romney as a person. I think he's a dignified person. But I have no common ground on economics. He doesn't worry about the Federal Reserve. He doesn't worry about foreign policy. He doesn't talk about civil liberties, so I would have a hard time to expect him to ever invite me to campaign with him. — Ron Paul

The concept of equal pay for equal work is not only an impossible task, it can only be accomplished with the total rejection of the idea of the voluntary contract. The idea that a businessman must hire anyone and is prevented from firing anyone for any reason he chooses, and in the name of rights, is a clear indication that the basic concept of a free society has been lost. — Ron Paul

Refuting the false promises requires philosophic understanding of economic interventionism, central banking, and the deeply flawed foreign policy of meddling in the affairs of other nations. — Ron Paul

Only liberty can truly ward off tyranny, the great and eternal foe of mankind. — Ron Paul

First reason is, it's not authorized in the Constitution, it's an illegal institution. The second reason, it's an immoral institution, because we have delivered to a secretive body the privilege of creating money out of thin air; if you or I did it, we'd be called counterfeiters, so why have we legalized counterfeiting? But the economic reasons are overwhelming: the Federal Reserve is the creature that destroys value. — Ron Paul

Patriotism never demands obedience to the state but rather obedience to the principles of liberty. — Ron Paul

War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures. — Ron Paul

I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card. — Ron Paul

Some members of Congress will claim that the federal government needs the power to monitor Americans in order to allow the government to operate more efficiently. I would remind my colleagues that, in a constitutional republic, the people are never asked to sacrifice their liberties to make the jobs of government officials easier. — Ron Paul

Stop policing the world and we can get rid of income tax. — Ron Paul

There's capital controls and there's people control. So every time you think of a fence keeping all those bad people out, think about those fences maybe being used against us, keeping us in. — Ron Paul

Just think of what Woodrow Wilson stood for: he stood for world government. He wanted an early United Nations, League of Nations. But it was the conservatives, Republicans, that stood up against him. — Ron Paul

Immigrants can spread diseases for which we may have no immunity. There is also the question of crime and culture. Many immigrants come from countries with different legal structures and are not willing to behave in the way we expect American citizens to behave. — Ron Paul

We don't think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That's true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such. — Ron Paul

Banning guns because of their misuse is like banning the First Amendment because one might libel or slander. — Ron Paul

1913 wasn't a very good year. 1913 gave us the income tax, the 16th amendment and the IRS. — Ron Paul

We now have a president who draws up kill lists of those individuals he believes should be assassinated - and the killings are carried out around the world by drones and other means. Snowden's life is endangered but much less so now that public opinion has swung in his favor. But that's a far cry from believing it's safe for him to return to United States or that he would have a fair trial in America. Sadly, truth comes with great cost and risk. The more authoritarian the government, the greater its hostility toward truth telling. — Ron Paul

The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence. — Ron Paul

Every country ended slavery without civil war; US could have. — Ron Paul

September 11th does not justify ignoring the Constitution by creating broad new federal police powers. The rule of law is worthless if we ignore it whenever crises occur. — Ron Paul

I believe only a free society can ever be truly secure. The goal should be to make terrorists feel threatened, not the American people. — Ron Paul

Outsourcing is a reflection of a bad economic environment domestically. If you fix that, you fix outsourcing. Our primary export is paper money, and that should change if you change the monetary policy. — Ron Paul

The greatest threat facing America today
is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government,
marked by shameless deficit spending and
Federal Reserve currency devaluation.
It is this one-two punch -
Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow,
and the Fed printing money to make up the difference -
that threatens to impoverish us by further
destroying the value of our dollars. — Ron Paul

To me, to be a conservative means to conserve the good parts of America and to conserve our Constitution. — Ron Paul

Under the constitution, there was never meant to be a federal police force. Even an FBI limited only to investigations was not accepted until this century. Yet today, fueled by the federal government's misdirected war on drugs, radical environmentalism, and the aggressive behavior of the nanny state, we have witnessed the massive buildup of a virtual army of armed regulators prowling the States where they have no legal authority. The sacrifice of individual responsibility and the concept of local government by the majority of American citizens has permitted the army of bureaucrats to thrive. — Ron Paul

When the goal of political action is no longer the defense of liberty, no word other than demagoguery can describe the despicable nature of politics. — Ron Paul

The federal war on drugs is a total failure ... The federal government's going in there and overriding state laws ... Why don't we handle the drugs like we handle alcohol? ... I fear the drug war because it undermines our civil liberties. It magnifies our problems on the borders. We've spent over the last 40 years a trillion dollars on this war and - believe me - the kids can still get the drugs. It just hasn't worked. — Ron Paul

Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long. — Ron Paul

The World's Smallest Political Quiz is responsible for many Americans' first contact with libertarian ideas. While traveling around the country, I have often heard people say, 'I never knew I was a libertarian until I took the Quiz!' — Ron Paul

[the federal] government [has no authority] to deliver a service, ... and there's no evidence to show that government has ever been efficient [at] delivering ... service. — Ron Paul

Ignorance, as well as disapproval for the natural restraints placed on market excesses that capitalism and sound markets impose, cause our present leaders to reject capitalism and blame it for all the problems we face. If this fallacy is not corrected and capitalism is even further undermined, the prosperity that the free market generates will be destroyed. — Ron Paul

Suicide terrorism stops when we stop intervening abroad. — Ron Paul