Quotes By John Stossel

Isn't allowing people a choice what America is all about?

Patrick Henry did not say, 'Give me absolutely safety or give me death.' America is supposed to be about freedom.

I had to watch government fail for 25 years doing consumer reporting before I really saw it because intuitively, the reaction is problem, bring government and government will make it better.

A thousand restaurants close every month. They re-open, and that's good for America. Nobody's rescuing them. They employ people, too. If we let them go bankrupt, the factories don't go away, the creative people don't go away. They get employed more productively by others.

When entrepreneurs are free to compete, they grow the pie so that everyone's share gets larger.

As a free person, I ought to be allowed if I'm dying to take something.

Central authority is bad. The bias should be for freedom. And without a central authority, there are lots of little authorities, and we learn which ones to trust.

I'm a libertarian. It's a terrible word.

There is all of this protesting against corporate power, but in reality, corporations have to persuade you - they could have a ton of money, but actually only government can use force.

I was ashamed for people to see me struggle.

Companies don't get rich hurting their customers.

I was a closet stutterer.

The people who tried government regulation have lives which are miserable.

The happiest stutterers, I learned, are those who are willing to stutter in front of others.

You can either invade a country or leave them alone and trade with them. When goods cross borders, armies don't.

What I've learned in 40 years of consumer reporting is that the market is imperfect, and some people get ripped off.

Private businesses ought to get to discriminate.

I saw how the regulation I called for made things worse, didn't help consumers and simple competition was better. And I started praising business and occasionally criticizing regulation.

I was bullied as a kid, and I got a job on television. And I had a camera. And so I wanted to go after those business bullies. And I just have been following that instinct.

The one thing I've learned is that stuttering in public is never as bad as I fear it will be.

We have all kinds of government compensation systems that are much more efficient than the lawyers.

All our rights are gradually eroded as government gets bigger.

Give me a break.

People like getting what they think is free stuff from government.

No transaction happens unless it is voluntary. It only happens if both of you think you win.

Competition leads both drug companies and private regulators to be trustworthy. If they are not trustworthy, they die.

When we were scared about 9/11, we federalized the airport security, we spent millions for body armor for dogs in Ohio. All that over-reaction comes from fear and government - bad combination.

Take away the government's monopoly, and private groups will do it better.

But nothing is better than the market, where the customer and the business deal directly with each other, because if you rip people off, word gets out. That business eventually loses its customers, and the good ones that serve people well get the business. You get government in there, and it's just more money for the lawyers who write the bills.

I never wanted to be an anchor for 25 years, and suddenly I wanted to be one.