Quotes About Individualism

The Complete Novels of Jack London

go after the ones who are greedy, who only want to help themselves, who exploit other people for personal gain. But the fault lies in those individuals, not in the nature of capitalism.

The writer's greed is appalling. He wants, or seems to want, everything and practically everybody, in another sense, and at the same time, he needs no one at all.

The day and age of the massive corporations that take care of us from beginning to end are over. But that is exciting news. It means we can choose the life we want for ourselves.

In another, drawn directly from his own comments on leading change, the word I appears forty-four times ("I could lead the charge"; "I wrote the twelve objectives"; "I presented and explained the objectives"), whereas the word we appears just sixteen times.

Zygmunt Bauman, "Living Without an Alternative

There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.

But, there was a time when we all had a great thing going but one person just became very uncomfortable with it and he had to try to change it around to suit him more and then it suited no one else but him.

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.

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

You can't rise as a class. You have to rise individually. It's what many of the civil rights-era people don't understand.

To be frank, it sometimes seems that the American idea of freedom has more to do with my freedom to do what I want than your freedom to do what you want. I think that, in Europe, we're probably better at understanding how to balance those competing claims, though not a lot.

Look, the center right coalition in American politics today is best understood as a coalition of groups and individuals that on the issue that brings them to politics what they want from the government is to be left alone.

The tendency everywhere in America to concentrate power and responsibility in one man is unmistakable.

To educate the wise man, the State exists; and with the appearance of the wise man, the State expires. The appearance of charactermakes the state unnecessary. The wise man is the State.

This, in every hour and every issue, is your basic moral choice: thinking or non-thinking, existence or non-existence, A or non-A, entity or zero.

Some bow to the spirit of collectivism, while you ascend to the spirit of your own eclectic rhythms.

You are free to do anything you want, provided you are not a beneficiary of others effort.

Paradoxical as it may seem, men and women who are free to pursue individualism and material wealth turn out to be the most compassionate of all.

There is no such thing as society: there are individual men and women, and there are families.

Wrong way down a one-way, women don't get saved 'round me even on a Sunday.

I'm not sponsored by anybody but myself... I'm not sponsored by the PAP.

Liberals don't believe in the ultimate concept of self-reliance, which is why they look to the government for stability.

If liberalism is to mean anything at all, it is duty bound to support without hesitation the dissenting individual over the group, the heretic over the orthodox, innovation over stagnation, and free speech over offense.