If we regard the state as the father, and the citizens as children, there are three alternatives. First, the father may be bad and despotic:this, most people will agree, was the case in Czarist Russia. Second, the father may be good, but somewhat tyrannical; this is the way the Communist governments in Russia and China picture themselves. Third, the father may not act as a father at all, for the children have grown up, and there is mutual respect among them. All are now governed by the same rules of behavior (laws): this is the Anglo-American concept of nonpaternalistic humanism and liberty under law. Thomas Szasz
Some Similar Quotes
  1. If you truly want to be respected by people you love, you must prove to them that you can survive without them. - Michael Bassey Johnson

  2. Better to die fighting for freedom then be a prisoner all the days of your life. - Bob Marley

  3. What are you thinking?" he asks. I know Gage hates it when I cry - he is completely undone by the sight of tears - so I blink hard against the sting. "I'm thinking how thankful I am for everything, " I say, "even the... - Lisa Kleypas

  4. Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty. - Thomas Jefferson

  5. A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government - Unknown

More Quotes By Thomas Szasz
  1. Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse.

  2. Parents teach children discipline for two different, indeed diametrically opposed, reasons: to render the child submissive to them and to make him independent of them. Only a self-disciplined person can be obedient; and only such a person can be autonomous.

  3. Thousands of years ago--in times we are fond of calling "primitive" (since this renders us "modern" without having to exert ourselves further to earn this qualification)...

  4. In the United States today, there is a pervasive tendency to treat children as adults, and adults as children. The options of children are thus steadily expanded, while those of adults are progressively constricted. The result is unruly children and childish adults.

  5. People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.

Related Topics