Quotes by Famous People

It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1758

When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic. — Benjamin Franklin

I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. — Benjamin Franklin

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. — Benjamin Franklin

Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. — Mark Twain

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. — Mark Twain

My body is my own, at least I have always so regarded it. If I do harm … it is I who suffers, not the state — Mark Twain

No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. — Mark Twain

Each of you, for himself, by himself and on his own responsibility, must speak. — Mark Twain

That’s the difference between governments and individuals. Governments don’t care, individuals do. — Mark Twain

There is no distinctly native American criminal class – save Congress. — Mark Twain

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. — Mark Twain

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure. — Mark Twain, Notebook, 1887

In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it cost nothing to be a patriot. — Mark Twain

The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or to impede their efforts to obtain it. — John Stuart Mill

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. — John Stuart Mill

Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded, and the amount of eccentricity in a society has been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. — John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 3

The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant. — John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Chapter 1