P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

I am inclined to believe that a man may be free to do anything he pleases if only he will accept responsibility for whatever he does.

Libertarians argue that no normal adult has the right to impose choices on other normal adults, except in abnormal circumstances, such as when one person finds another unconscious and administers medical assistance or calls an ambulance.

Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.

Anybody, anywhere in the world, all they want is to be free, to choose what they want to do without having someone tell them how to do it.

Happiness is the freedom of choice. The freedom to choose where to live, what to do, what to buy, what to sell, from whom, to whom, when and how.

If you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all.

Liberty is often a heavy burden on a man. It involves that necessity for perpetual choice which is the kind of labor men have always dreaded.

There is always a choice." "You mean I could choose certain death?" "A choice nevertheless, or perhaps an alternative. You see I believe in freedom. Not many people do, although they will of course protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all the others are based.

It is for men to choose whether they will govern themselves or be governed.

Liberty not only means that the individual has both the opportunity and the burden of choice; it also means that he must bear the consequences of his actions. Liberty and responsibility are inseparable.

Ultimately, there is the freedom to take the consequences.

People are going to do stupid things, but you don't take away the freedom because somebody makes a stupid decision.

There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought.

I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.

Liberty means responsibility. That's why most men dread it.

I'm a hardcore libertarian - I want everything legal - but I also believe that you have the right to free association.

As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is our responsibility.

Ultimately, I'm about liberty and I think you have to defend it.

Is any man free except the one who can pass his life as he pleases?

You are the sum total of the choices you make every day.

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

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

With awareness come responsibility and choice.

I'm for absolute autonomy of the individual, and an adult, competent woman has absolute autonomy. It's her choice.

We're giving our freedoms away. The American experiment was about freedom. Freedom to be stupid, freedom to fail, freedom to succeed.