The Key to Selling Liberty

I’m re-reading “Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion,” and I wanted to share one of my favorite passages, from the chapter “Libertarian Excitement is Contagious.” I hope it motivates others as it does me. (By “libertarian,” the author means someone who supports the maximum degree of liberty and the minimum role of the state.)

When car-maker Walter Chrysler was asked the secret of his success, he said, “The real secret is enthusiasm. Yes, more than enthusiasm, I would say excitement. I like to see sales people get excited. When they get excited, they get customers excited, and we get business.”

Frank Bettger wrote, “During my 32 years of selling, I have seen enthusiasm double and triple the income of dozens of salesmen. And I’ve seen the lack of it cause hundreds of salesmen to fail.”

Writer Willa Cather said, “Every artist’s secret is passion. It is an open secret and perfectly safe. Like heroism, it is inimitable in cheap materials.”

Their passion fueled their careers. Their excitement and enthusiasm won them loyal customers and fans.

Imagine the excitement in every conversation you have about libertarianism. Because that excitement is contagious.

It keeps our ideas on the lips of people who hear them. And it makes libertarianism the subject that people talk about.

Get excited when exalting the possibilities of how society might be, of how it ought to be, free and virtuous.

(You can download some PDF notes from the book that we took as part of a Meetup event last year here.)