Politics is a pendulum whose swings between anarchy and tyranny are fueled by perpetually rejuvenated illusions.

Metaphysically, his bowl filled and emptied at the same time. Violent and maniacal to push himself so far, he’d both created and destroyed his body’s energy. In other words he had complete power, self-sustaining, self-sacrificing power at the origin of himself.

Right and wrong are superstitions; your desires, however, are real. Those who cannot achieve their desires, or who despair of doing so, often compensate by constructing imaginary frameworks. For example, if you wish to live in a world in which no one exploits animals, it is moralism to judge those who eat meat immoral instead...

The law has placed the collective force at the disposal of the unscrupulous who wish, without risk, to exploit the person, liberty, and property of others. It has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. And it has converted lawful defense into a crime, in order to punish lawful defense…When, then, does...

The political superstition is still holding sway over the hearts and minds of the masses, but the true lovers of liberty will have no more to do with it. Instead, they believe with Stirner that man has as much liberty as he is willing to take. Anarchism therefore stands for direct action, the open defiance...

If I love freedom above all else, then any commitment becomes a metaphor, a symbol. This touches on the difference between the forest fleer and the partisan:this distinction is not qualitative but essential in nature. The anarch is closer to Being. The partisan moves within the social or national party structure, the anarch is outside...

Recall that the minimum wage was initially conceived as a method to exclude undesirables from the workforce.

Ultimately, we need to take control over the money supply out of the hands of our governments and make the production of money again subject to the principle of free association. The first step to endorsing and promoting this strategy is to realize that governments do not—indeed cannot—fulfill any positive role whatever through the control...

1. Society needs laws. While anarchy can often turn a humdrum weekend into something unforgettable, eventually the mob must be kept from stealing the conch and killing Piggy. And while it would be nice if that “something” was simple human decency, anybody who has witnessed the “50% Off Wedding Dress Sale” at Filene’s Basement knows...

Yes I pay taxes… There are no ethics in the face of coercion, that is blaming the victim. Focus on the man with the gun, not the man in the crosshairs trying to survive.

It is our suffering that brings us together. It is not love. Love does not obey the mind, and turns to hate when forced. The bond that binds us is beyond choice. We are brothers. We are brothers in what we share. In pain, which each of us must suffer alone, in hunger, in poverty,...

An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.

The authorities don’t grant concessions out of the kindness of their hearts; they simply concede the reality of what their subjects are strong enough to compel from them. If you want political leverage, don’t beg for it, don’t seek it through their channels – take power outside them.

Traditionally, there have been two major strains of motivation (or perceived motivations) in anarchist politics: Duty and Joy. Like any duality, it is easy to fall into the trap of simplistic black and white labels, ignoring the more realistic continuum of grays. Instead, think of these two motivations as the end points on a continuum,...

because a propositional justification exists for doing one thing, but not for doing another.” But why should we be reasonable, is the next come-back. Again, the answer is obvious. For one, because it would be impossible to argue against it; and further, because the proponent raising this question would already affirm the use of reason...

It is cold anarchy to say that all men are to meddle in all men’smarriages. It is cold anarchy to say that any doctor may seize andsegregate anyone he likes. But it is not anarchy to say that a fewgreat hygienists might enclose or limit the life of all citizens,as nurses do with a family...

If you take things the wrong way, be aware of which end is up

Commerce tends toward rewarding inclusion, broadness, and liberality. Tribal loyalties, ethnic and religious bigotries, and irrational prejudices are bad for business. The merchant class has been conventionally distrusted by tribalist leaders — from the ancient to the modern world — precisely because merchantcraft tends to break down barriers between groups.

The anarchy that threatens a degrading society is not its punishment, but its remedy.

We’ve got this weird dysgenic situation where we’re basically just paying idiots to breed and taxing intelligent people to stay away from each other with anything remotely resembling fertility.

Anarchy is merely the illusion of liberty.

In regard to the so-called social contract, I have often had occasion to protest that I haven’t even seen the contract, much less been asked to consent to it. A valid contract requires voluntary offer, acceptance, and consideration. I’ve never received an offer from my rulers, so I certainly have not accepted one; and rather...

If government half a century ago had provided us with all our dinners and breakfasts, it would be the practice of our orators today to assume the impossibility of our providing for ourselves.

Can we imagine a togetherness that isn’t founded on gross generalizations, conceptualizing ourselves as unique individuals who still stand to gain from looking out for one another? Can we identify with each other rather than with categories or masters?

There is no master cabal organizing the three-hundred plus Food Not Bombs or mad genius organizing the dozens of Indymedia’s across the globe. We can all be the Johnny and Jane Appleseeds of anarchist counter-structure. We do this by harvesting good ideas and strategies from across the globe and replacing them on the local level....

Un fait capital domine toute la civilisation moderne, le fait que la propriété d’un seul peut s’accroître indéfiniment, et même, en vertu du consentement presque universel, embrasser le monde entier.

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.

I think that the Internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government.

There are two and only two ways that any economy can be organized. One is by freedom and voluntary choice—the way of the market. The other is by force and dictation—the way of the State.

last night i dreamt AGAIN of a chaotic world, a lawless world..a world that was wounded with bullet holes, shattered glass & screams behind explosives harsh soundmy dreams, for some time now..so filled with shattered glass.just shattered glass. in a shattered world.

Can social progress be made without government?It’s like saying ‘can happiness be achieved without the initiation of violence? Can romance be achieved without rape? Can profitability be achieved without theft? Can economic growth be achieved without the mass indebted enslavement and counterfeiting of the federal reserve?’.

Government should never be able to do anything you can’t do. If you can’t steal from your neighbor, you can’t send the government to steal for you.

I wonder how many such men in America would know that Communism, the New Deal, Fascism, Nazism, are merely so-many trade-names for collectivist Statism, like the trade-names for tooth-pastes which are all exactly alike except for the flavouring.

He had forgotten they lived with a rope around their necks – until it cinched.

There is no returning to the masses – once your forays into theory have borne you far enough away from them that you can perceive them and the benefits of being among them. the only return is through the process of disillusionment; one must cease to care about motivating the masses to be reunited with...

The most urgent necessity is, not that the State should teach, but that it should allow education. All monopolies are detestable, but the worst of all is the monopoly of education.

If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution.

Liberalism is to freedom as anarchism is to anarchy.

In a state of anarchy power is the measure of right

There are times when the law jeopardizes those who obey it.

democracy is a see-saw between complete chaos and tolerable confusion

Promote the voluntary family; voluntarism is the only known cure for abuses of power – in politics, the economy or the family.

We have nothing but our freedom. We have nothing to give you but your own freedom. We have no law but the single principle of mutual aid between individuals. We have no government but the single principle of free association. We have no states, no nations, no presidents, no premiers, no chiefs, no generals, no...

At the fringe edge of advancement it’s a war of anarchy and chaos.

In the United States, people don’t revolt in order to obtain freedom, but continue denying it to others.

It’s easier to ponder the future than it is to do something about the present.

A government is a compulsory territorial monopolist of ultimate decision-making (jurisdiction) and, implied in this, a compulsory territorial monopolist of taxation. That is, a government is the ultimate arbiter, for the inhabitants of a given territory, regarding what is just and what is not, and it can determine unilaterally, i.e., without requiring the consent of...

You’ve got that eternal idiotic idea that if anarchy came it would come from the poor. Why should it? The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich...

Given the current state of anarchy and lawlessness, we will also discuss whether something should be considered in the form of mass action.

Freedom is the foundation for all wonderful things in life.