"Rights are not gifts from one man to another, nor from one class of men to another... It is impossible to discover any origin of rights [other] than in the origin of man; it consequently follows that rights appertain to man in right of his existence, and must therefore be equal to every man." ~ Thomas Paine; famous Author during the American Revolution and supporter of American Independence, also a major influence in both the French Revolution as well as in the development of the ideas which led to the Enlightenment.
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“Suppose pioneer 'A' wants another horse for his wagon, He doesn't have the money to buy one, but since pioneer 'B' has an extra horse, he decides that he is entitled to share in his neighbor's good fortune. Is he entitled to take his neighbor's horse? Obviously not! If his neighbor wishes to give it or lend it, that is another question. But so long as pioneer 'B' wishes to keep his property, pioneer 'A' has no just claim to it. If 'A' has no proper power to take 'B's' property, can he delegate any such power to the sheriff? No. Even if everyone in the community desires that 'B' give his extra horse to 'A', they have no right individually or collectively to force him to do it. They cannot delegate a power they themselves do not have. This important principle was clearly understood and explained by John Locke nearly 300 years ago: "For nobody can transfer to another more power than he has in himself..."
“An important test I use in passing judgment upon an act of government is this: If it were up to me as an individual to punish my neighbor for violating a given law, would it offend my conscience to do so? Since my conscience will never permit me to physically punish my fellow man unless he has done something evil, or unless he has failed to do something which I have a moral right to require of him to do, I will never knowingly authorize my agent, the government, to do this on my behalf. I realize that when I give my consent to the adoption of a law, I specifically instruct the police... that if anyone resists the enforcement of the law, they are to use any means necessary - yes, even putting the lawbreaker to death or putting him in jail - to overcome such resistance... we Americans should use extreme care before lending our support to any proposed government program. We should fully recognize that government is no plaything. As George Washington warned, "Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master!" It is an instrument of force and unless our conscience is clear that we would not hesitate to put a man to death, put him in jail or forcibly deprive him of his property for failing to obey a given law, we should oppose it.†~ Ezra Taft Benson; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and President of the LDS Church.
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“Over one's mind and over one's body the individual is sovereign... 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... 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 impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.†~ John Stuart Mill; Respected British Philosopher and Member of Parliament.
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“At the bottom of the endless pile of paper work which characterizes all regulation lies a gun.†~ Ayn Rand; 20th-century Russian-American Novelist and Philosopher.
