Ron Paul Quotations

Back a hundred years ago, especially around Woodrow Wilson, what happened in this country is we took freedom and we chopped it into pieces.

When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads.

To me, to be a conservative means to conserve the good parts of America and to conserve our Constitution.

A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.

Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism.

Real patriotism is a willingness to challenge the government when it's wrong.

If you like small government you need to work hard at having a strong national defense that is not so militant. Personal liberty is the purpose of government, to protect liberty - not to run your personal life, not to run the economy, and not to pretend that we can tell the world how they ought to live.

Well, I don't think we should go to the moon. I think we maybe should send some politicians up there.

The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence.

I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card.

When the federal government spends more each year than it collects in tax revenues, it has three choices: It can raise taxes, print money, or borrow money. While these actions may benefit politicians, all three options are bad for average Americans.

I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.

Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.

How did we win the election in the year 2000? We talked about a humble foreign policy: No nation-building; don't police the world. That's conservative, it's Republican, it's pro-American - it follows the founding fathers. And, besides, it follows the Constitution.

I think a submarine is a very worthwhile weapon. I believe we can defend ourselves with submarines and all our troops back at home. This whole idea that we have to be in 130 countries and 900 bases... is an old-fashioned idea.

Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.

All initiation of force is a violation of someone else's rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it's supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals.

Maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy: Don't do to other nations what we don't want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?

The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.

I have never met anyone who did not support our troops. Sometimes, however, we hear accusations that someone or some group does not support the men and women serving in our Armed Forces. But this is pure demagoguery, and it is intellectually dishonest.

I like Mitt Romney as a person. I think he's a dignified person. But I have no common ground on economics. He doesn't worry about the Federal Reserve. He doesn't worry about foreign policy. He doesn't talk about civil liberties, so I would have a hard time to expect him to ever invite me to campaign with him.

Aggression and forced redistribution of wealth has nothing to do with the teachings of the world's great religions.

You don't have freedom because you are a hyphenated American; you have freedom because you are an individual, and that should be protected.

Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract from failed policies, policies promoted by powerful special interests that benefit from war, anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the war in Iraq will not end anytime soon.

There is only one kind of freedom and that's individual liberty. Our lives come from our creator and our liberty comes from our creator. It has nothing to do with government granting it.

I will always vote what I have promised, and always vote the Constitution, as well as I will not vote for one single penny that isn't paid for, because debt is the monster, debt is what's going to eat us up and that is why our economy is on the brink.

Believe me, the next step is a currency crisis because there will be a rejection of the dollar, the rejection of the dollar is a big, big event, and then your personal liberties are going to be severely threatened.

There is nothing wrong with describing Conservatism as protecting the Constitution, protecting all things that limit government. Government is the enemy of liberty. Government should be very restrained.

You don't quit because you happen to be behind. You want to see how you do. And who knows? Maybe somebody will stumble.

The obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.

Everyone assumes America must play the leading role in crafting some settlement or compromise between the Israelis and the Palestinians. But Jefferson, Madison, and Washington explicitly warned against involving ourselves in foreign conflicts.

Prices are going up. Unemployment continues to go up. And we have not had the necessary correction for the financial bubble created by our Federal Reserve system.

Just think of what Woodrow Wilson stood for: he stood for world government. He wanted an early United Nations, League of Nations. But it was the conservatives, Republicans, that stood up against him.

In time it will become clear to everyone that support for the policies of pre-emptive war and interventionist nation-building will have much greater significance than the removal of Saddam Hussein itself.

Another term for preventive war is aggressive war - starting wars because someday somebody might do something to us. That is not part of the American tradition.

I would like to restore your right to drink raw milk anytime you like.

You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws.

Of course I've already taken a very modest position on the monetary system, I do take the position that we should just end the Fed.

Justifying conscription to promote the cause of liberty is one of the most bizarre notions ever conceived by man! Forced servitude, with the risk of death and serious injury as a price to live free, makes no sense.

Have you noticed the debt is exploding? And it's not all because of Medicare.

War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures.

Having federal officials, whether judges, bureaucrats, or congressmen, impose a new definition of marriage on the people is an act of social engineering profoundly hostile to liberty.

Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.

Why is it is claimed that if people won't or can't take care of their own needs, that people in government can do it for them?

I'd like to think of myself as the flavor of the decade.

When things go badly, individuals look for scapegoats. I just do not believe that barbed-wire fences or guns on our border will solve any of our problems.

Believe me, the intellectual revolution is going on, and that has to come first before you see the political changes. That's where I'm very optimistic.

I had the privilege of practicing medicine in the early '60s, before we had any government. It worked rather well, and there was nobody on the street suffering with no medical care.

Throughout the 20th century, the Republican Party benefited from a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how Eisenhower came in to stop the Korean War. Think of how Nixon was elected to stop the mess in Vietnam.

During the last campaign I knew what was happening. You know, they mocked me for my foreign policy and they laughed at my monetary policy. No more. No more.

As recent as the year 2000 we won elections by saying we shouldn't be the policemen of the world, and that we should not be nation building. And its time we got those values back into this country.

There's nothing wrong with being a Conservative and coming up with a Conservative believe in foreign policy where we have a strong national defense and we don't go to war so carelessly.

What is not conservative about saying, 'Don't go to war unless we go to war properly with a full declaration of war and no other way?'

I would think they're going to study it a little more closely.

It is good to get the brand out there because it is a way to get trial and differentiate yourself from the competition.

I think they are a treat. There are enough consumers who are willing to treat themselves frequently or once in a while.

It appears that the threshold has been reached where consumers are feeling the pinch of higher gas prices and are beginning to reduce their restaurant spending, ... We are also seeing softness in restaurant same-store sales, which we track monthly, further validating a reduction in consumer spending.

We are, of course, proud of the many accomplishments we have achieved over the past 40 years. That said, I am even more excited about our plans for the future.

Without question, we're seeing a slowdown, ... They'll have one glass of wine instead of two, or they're skipping the appetizers.

As chains go, it's doing very well, and investors are reacting to it.

Think of what happened after 9/11, the minute before there was any assessment, there was glee in the administration because now we can invade Iraq, and so the war drums beat.

You run the risk of customers trading down, which drives down check averages and hurts profits.

If you really want to get beyond just tourist locations, where you aren't dependent on regular customers, then you have to go back to the basics . . . very definitely play down the gimmicks, play down the museum aspects of what you are doing. Make it a different enough restaurant that there's some reason to try it, and if everything else is good, customers will come back.

They've got to make a decision. They've got to ramp it up and start opening at a faster pace, sell it back to the original owners or make a public offering. I think all things are being considered.

They broke the mold when they decided to do music. If bookstores have coffee, then why can't a coffee store sell books and movies?

They basically have developed almost a cult-like following. I think it's partly as a result of their emphasis on higher-quality ingredients.

The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation. It is this one-two punch-- Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Fed printing money to make up the difference-- that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.

It's not well-situated in the Loop. It doesn't have a vibrant evening audience to draw from.

The younger generation isn't gravitating toward that. They've grown up with many more options. They're more interested in experimenting and in healthy, natural foods.

No single person, including the President of the United States, should ever be given the power to make a medical decision for potentially millions of Americans. Freedom over one's physical person is the most basic freedom of all, and people in a free society should be sovereign over their own bodies. When we give government the power to make medical decisions for us, we in essence accept that the state owns our bodies.

Foreign aid is taking money from the poor people of a rich country and giving it to the rich people of a poor country.

If we stuck to the Constitution as written, we would have: no federal meddling in our schools; no Federal Reserve; no U.S. membership in the UN; no gun control; and no foreign aid. We would have no welfare for big corporations, or the "poor"; no American troops in 100 foreign countries; no NAFTA, GAT, or "fast-track"; no arrogant federal judges usurping states rights; no attacks on private property; no income tax. We could get rid of most of the agencies, and most of the budget. The government would be small, frugal, and limited.

I'm always looking for an opportunity to bring progressive Democrats together with some conservative libertarian types, because there are places where we can agree.

Get rid of IRS; get rid of income tax; get rid of spending.

One thing is clear: The Founding Fathers never intended a nation where citizens would pay nearly half of everything they earn to the government.

Truth is treason in the empire of lies.

Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution says Congress has the ability to coin money and regulate the currency and doesn't say anything about gold or silver.

We need to get the government out of the way. Inflation hits the middle class and the poor the most. Those are the people who are losing it. We don't have enough competition. There's a doctor monopoly out there. We need alternative health care freely available to the people. They ought to be able to make their own choices and not controlled by the FDA preventing them to use some of the medications.

I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe.

If you sacrifice liberty for security, you will lose both.

I would say nobody is perfect. I don't know all the answers. I have don't want to run people's lives and run the world and run the economy. So, my qualifications are a little bit different.

The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility and out of self interest for himself, his family, and the future of his country to resist government abuse of power. He rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state.

If people are smokers, don't they have to pay more? Sometimes, you get your insurance cheaper if you are a nonsmoker. So, let the markets sort this out and insurance sort it out, but not having dictates by the government saying thou, you must do this and your behavior doesn't matter, you know?

You can't have a healthy economy without sound money, which is why we're on the verge of very serious economic problem.

There is but one special interest that we should be working for, and that would solve just about all of our problems, and that is our liberty.

What if the American people woke up and understood that the official reasons for going to war are almost always based on lies and promoted by war propaganda in order to serve special interests?

If you drink too much, you go out and you harm to somebody, you have to suffer the consequences. Same way with health matters. You don't have the right to demand that someone else take care of you because of your habits.

We need to make sure that people can save all the money they spend on medical care by getting it back from their taxes, by reducing their tax burden.

As long as we live beyond our means, we are destined to live beneath our means.

There's a a right to privacy for all individuals and all who have legal rights - and that includes the unborn. As an obstetrician, if I cause any harm to a fetus, I will be sued. If someone kills or harms a fetus they're liable in a court of law.

I want to just obey the Constitution.The Constitution says only gold and silver can be legal tender.

Speak up, speak often and don’t worry about those that at this point cannot understand as they can never un-hear what we tell them.

Freedom is living without government coercion. So when a politician talks about freedom for this group or that, ask yourself whether he is advocating more government action or less.

The American people are sick and tired of Washington and the people who have been in charge have been passing all these bills and I've been voting no all of the time and vote no on these appropriation bills.

We don't have the freedom of speech to talk about the weather. We have the first amendment so we can say some very controversial things.

The constant refrain that bringing our troops home would demonstrate a lack of support for them must be one of the most amazing distortions ever foisted on the American public.

Why does the U.S. care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?

When you have war, whether it's a war against drugs, war against terrorism, war overseas, the mentality of the people change and they're more willing to sacrifice their liberties in order to be safe and secure.

Republican control of the Senate = expanded neocon wars in Syria and Iraq. Boots on the ground are coming!

It is no coincidence that the century of total war coincided with the century of central banking.