Progressive societies outgrow institutions as children outgrow clothes.
Henry GeorgeRead
It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Governments should only exist to protect individuals' rights and not to control personal virtue or folly.
In this quote, Henry George argues that the role of government is fundamentally to ensure the liberty and equal rights of individuals, protecting them from aggression while refraining from overreach into personal morality or actions. He emphasizes that excessive government intervention can lead to the opposite of its intended purpose, undermining individual rights and freedoms.
Themes
GovernmentLibertyRightsVirtueFreedomFolly
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about government policies and personal freedoms.
More from Henry George
All quotes →The march of invention has clothed mankind with powers of which a century ago the boldest imagination could not have dreamt.
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Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over.
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The protection of the masses has in all times been the pretense of tyranny - the plea of monarchy, of aristocracy, of special privilege of every kind. The slave owners justified slavery as protecting the slaves.
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So long as all the increased wealth which modern progress brings goes but to build up great fortunes, to increase luxury and make sharper the contrast between the House of Have and the House of Want, progress is not real and cannot be permanent.
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Compare society to a boat. Her progress through the water will not depend upon the exertion of her crew, but upon the exertion devoted to propelling her. This will be lessened by any expenditure of force in fighting among themselves, or in pulling in different directions.
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