"The claim of the State Socialists, however, that this right would not be exercised in matters pertaining to the individual in the more intimate and private relations of his life is not borne out by the history of governments. It has ever been the tendency of power to add to itself, to enlarge its sphere, to encroach beyond the limits set for it; and where the habit of resisting such encroachment is not fostered, and the individual is not taught to be jealous of his rights, individuality gradually disappears and the government or State becomes the all-in-all. Control naturally accompanies responsibility. Under the system of State Socialism, therefore, which holds the community responsible for the health, wealth, and wisdom of the individual, it is evident that the community, through its majority expression, will insist more and more in prescribing the conditions of health, wealth, and wisdom, thus impairing and finally destroying individual independence and with it all sense of individual responsibility."
React to this quote
More by Benjamin Tucker
See allResonant Thoughts
"Private property has made us so stupid and one-sided that an object is only ours when we have it - when it exists for us as capital, or when it is directly possessed, eaten, drunk, worn, inhabited, et…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"The dead Lenin who does not know that he is dead thus stands for our own obstinate refusal to renounce the …"
— Slavoj Žižek"We were put here as witnesses to the miracle of life. We see the stars, and we want them. We are beholden t…"
— Ray Bradbury"People like to do things. They like to do them well. People take the dangerous, hard jobs because they take…"
— Ursula K. Le Guin"I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my lif…"
— Nelson Mandela"Give me by all means the shorter and nobler life, instead of one that is longer but of less account!"
— Epictetus"A person may be convicted for making a speech or for pamphleteering if a judge rules ex post facto that the…"
— William O. Douglas