Nozick, Robert

"The state may not use its coercive apparatus for the purpose of getting some citizens to aid others."

"There is no justified answer to the question of what the state should do, only what individuals have the right to do."

"Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them without violating those rights."

"A minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, and fraud, is justified."

"Liberty upsets patterns; maintaining patterns requires continual interference with liberty."

"The entitlement theory holds that justice depends on how holdings are acquired and transferred."

"Why think that historical process and pattern-maintenance are alternatives to each other?"

"Patterned principles of justice cannot be continuously satisfied unless something continually intervenes to upset actual holdings."

"Voluntary exchange between rational agents respects each individual's rights and autonomy."

"Self-ownership is fundamental; each person is an end in themselves, not merely a means to others' ends."

"Locke's proviso suggests acquisition is just when there is enough and as good left for others."

"The Wilt Chamberlain argument shows how seemingly just initial distributions become unjust through free exchange."

"Separateness of persons is the most basic moral fact; redistribution violates this fundamental truth."

"A just distribution depends upon past events, not upon how the current distribution looks."

"Rights are constraints on actions; they set limits on what others may do to you."

"The minimal state is morally justified, while all larger states are unjustified."

"In a free society, people pursuing their own projects naturally benefit others through voluntary exchange."

"Each person has a right to determine what shall happen to things she owns."

"Utilitarianism cannot account for the separateness and inviolability of individuals."

"Justice consists in three principles: acquisition, transfer, and rectification of holdings."

"Side constraints on actions provide moral limits that cannot be violated even for good consequences."

"The state may not prohibit consensual activity simply because it judges the activity to be immoral."

"Ownership of oneself suggests the right to decide how one's talents and energies shall be used."

"Redistributive taxation assumes the state owns your earnings, which violates your rights."

"Rectification restores someone to the position they would have been in absent injustice."

"A society cannot be perfectly just if it violates the rights of even one individual."

"The invisible hand explanation shows how market outcomes can emerge without central coordination."

"Rights are not consequences of beneficial effects; they are fundamental moral facts."

"Moral constraints are side constraints on action, not goals to be maximized."

"One cannot complain that there are constraints on what one may do when these constraints protect others' rights."