Immortal Words from Bastiat

I was just (re)organizing my book shelf, and I came across my copy of The Law, by Frederic Bastiat. This was one of the first classic liberal tracts that I ever read, and was instrumental in getting me on the road to becoming a full-fledged libertarian. As I skimmed though it, rereading certain sections, I came across this quote that, in my view, reflects much of what I encounter every time I converse with a Statist:

“Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.

"We disapprove of state education. Then the socialists say that we are opposed to any education. We object to a state religion. Then the socialists say that we want no religion at all. We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain.”

–Frederic Bastiat, The Law

Wonderful stuff!