Liberty and law

From "The Oxford Book of Aphorisms"

The sense of liberty is a message read between the lines of constraint. Real liberty is as transparent, as odourless and tasteless, as water.

Michael Frayn, Constructions, 1974

Laws always are a constraint on the lives of its subjects. Liberty is freedom from law. Can a nation set at liberty its own citizens? Only with faith in the nature of man; in lawlessness, imperfections in the citizenry are not restrained.

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Liberty

From "The Oxford Book of Aphorisms"

Liberty is the right to do whatever the law permits.

Montesquieu, De l'esprit des lois, 1748

Politically speaking, the rule of thumb is: the less laws one is under, the more liberty he has. To measure one's liberties, one has to consider the number and weight of the laws, rules and regulations his government has imposed on him. To increase or decrease one's liberties, one must advocate for the respective decrease or increase of such laws; this applies to all levels of government, from local to international.

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