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Quote by Lysander Spooner

“If taxation without consent is robbery, the United States government has never had, has not now, and is never likely to have, a single honest dollar in its treasury. If taxation without consent is not robbery, then any band of robbers have only to declare themselves a government, and all their robberies are legalized.”

Quote by Lysander Spooner

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Author

Lysander Spooner
Lysander Spooner

Lysander Spooner was an American philosopher, abolitionist, and legal theorist who lived from January 19, 1808, to May 14, 1887. He is recognized for his contributions to the philosophy of individual rights and his advocacy for the abolition of slavery. Spooner's work has had a profound impact on the fields of law and philosophy. more

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“If two individuals enter into a contract to commit trespass, theft, robbery or murder upon a third, the contract is unlawful and void, simply because it is a contract to violate natural justice, or men's natural rights.”

IfsMenTwoIndividualNaturalJusticeRightsThirdsMurderCommitContractsVoidTheftRobberyNatural RightsUnlawfulNatural Justice
Book:The unconstitutionality of slavery: including parts first and second
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“It cannot be said that the Constitution formed 'the people of the United States,' for all time, into a corporation. It does not speak of 'the people' as a corporation, but as individuals. A corporation does not describe itself as 'we,' nor as 'people,' nor as 'ourselves.' Nor does a corporation, in legal language, have any 'posterity.'”

PeopleDoeSaidStatesIndividualSpeakLanguageUnitedUnited StatesConstitutionAll TimeCorporationsPosterity
Book:Let's Abolish Government
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“It is with government paper, and bank paper, as it is with the paper of private persons; that is, it is worth just what can be delivered in redemption of it, and no more. We all understand that the notes of the Astors, and Stewarts, and Vanderbilts, though issued by millions, and tens of millions, are really worth their nominal values.”

PersonsGovernmentValuesMillionsPaperNotesRedemptionVanderbilt
Book:A New Banking System: the Needful Capital for Rebuilding the Burnt District
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“Legally speaking, the term 'public rights' is as vague and indefinite as are the terms 'public health,' 'public good,' 'public welfare,' and the like. It has no legal meaning, except when used to describe the separate, private, individual rights of a greater or less number of individuals.”

UsedIndividualTermNumbersGreaterRightsWelfareVaguePublic HealthIndividual RightsPublic GoodPublic Welfare
Book:The collected works of Lysander Spooner
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“Martyrdom is evidence only of a man's honesty - it is no evidence that he is not mistaken. Men have suffered martyrdom for all sorts of opinions in politics and in religion; yet they could not therefore have all been in the right; although they could give no stronger evidence that they believed themselves in the right.”

MenGivingOpinionHonestyEvidenceStrongerMistakenMartyrdom
Book:The Deist's Reply to the Alleged Supernatural Evidences of Christianity, Etc
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