Lysander Spooner: “And these separate, individual rights all rest upon, and can be ascertained only by, the one science of justice.”

Proud from victory, and with their swords in their hands, would they surrender their liberties to a private man?

When two men meet one upon the highway, or in the wilderness, have they a right to dispose of his life, liberty, or property at their pleasure, simply because they are the more numerous party?

The answer is, that they are as reliable for that purpose as are the majority; they are as much presumed to have associated, and are as likely to have associated, for that object, as are the majority; and they have as much interest in such…

It is also sheer impudence, on their part, to assume that their commands are at all necessary to teach other men what is, and what is not, justice.