# Quote — Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

> You have put your finger on the dilemma of all government — and the reason I am an anarchist. The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it contains until it destroys. I was not joking when I told them to dig into their own pouches. It may not be possible to do away with government — sometimes I think that government is an inescapable disease of human beings. But it may be possible to keep it small and starved and inoffensive — and can you think of a better way than by requiring the governors themselves to pay the costs of their antisocial hobby?

- Author: [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md)
- Book: [The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress#Quotes) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress/you-have-put

## More from this book

> Acronym created by Heinlein for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"; Heinlein and Milton Friedman are sometimes credited with creating this phrase, but it existed well before either's use of it, dating to at least the 1930s.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress/acronym-created-by-heinlein.md)

> Acronym for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." The origin of this phrase is often misattributed to Heinlein or Milton Friedman, but it actually dates back to at least the 1930s. Heinlein's contribution was to make the acronym for it.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress/acronym-for-there.md)

> What I fear most are affirmative actions of sober and well-intentioned men, granting to government powers to do something that appears to need doing.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/the-moon-is-a-harsh-mistress/what-i-fear.md)