The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Blackstone on Liberty

Posted on | September 11, 2010 | 2 Comments

“Sir William Blackstone, England’s famous 18th century juror, said that every wanton and causeless restraint of the will of the subject is a degree of tyranny, and ‘even laws themselves, whether made with or without our consent, if they regulate and constrain our conduct in matters of mere indifference, without any good end in view, are regulations destructive of liberty.’ Protecting against this tyranny — preserving our ability to exercise our free will — that is the cause of conservatism.”
Corinna Cohn

Comments

2 Responses to “Blackstone on Liberty”

  1. proof
    September 11th, 2010 @ 4:19 pm

    Good quote. Tyranny doesn’t always arrive with a wave of stormtroopers. Sometimes it sneaks in via the state house.

  2. proof
    September 11th, 2010 @ 12:19 pm

    Good quote. Tyranny doesn’t always arrive with a wave of stormtroopers. Sometimes it sneaks in via the state house.