James Q. Wilson Quotes & Sayings

“Without Liberty, Law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without Law, Liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.”

“Some people suggest that the problem is the separation of powers. If you had a parliamentary system, the struggle for power would not result in such complex peace treaties that empower so many different people to pursue so many contradictory aims.”

“But no one has yet succeeded in reducing the size or scope of the federal government.”

“Crime is the price society pays for abandoning character.”

“I mean that the function of the police is to solve problems that have law-enforcement consequences in a way that is based on a genuine partnership with the neighborhood in both the venting of the problem and the discussion of the solution.”

“A government without the power of defense! It is a solecism.”

“I believe we ought to subsidize some health care for the poor, but Medicare subsidizes everyone's health care.”

“I will have an administrative system where there is no way to extricate red tape.”

“In the long run, the public interest depends on private virtue.”

“There is no way the American public will sit still for the banning of or putting any significant restrictions on the kinds of guns they want.”