"[Nozick's] powers of argument are profound, and his insights are at times staggering in their brilliance."--New Republic
"A major event in contemporary political philosophy...[Nozick] is always stimulating; an open-minded study of what he has to say could be a healthy tonic for romantic leftists."--Peter Singer, New York Review of Books
"Complex, sophisticated and ingenious."--The Economist
"No contemporary philosopher possesses a more imaginative mind, broader interests, or greater dialectical abilities than Robert Nozick."--Harper's
"[A] powerful critique of the Left-liberal moral philosophy that underpinned the welfare state...a kind of libertarian manifesto."--Telegraph (UK)
"[Nozick is] one of the 20th century's greatest political theorists."--The Guardian
"[Nozick's] faculties of reasoning and imagination are rare; his learning is enormous and interconnected...His ability to surround a subject, to anticipate objections, to see through weakness and pretense, to extract all the implications of a contention, to ask a huge number of relevant questions about a seemingly settled matter, to enlarge into full significance what has only been sketched by others, is amazing."--George Kateb

"[S]imply and elegantly written, with charm and wit...brilliantly reasoned and contrary."

--Washington Post
"[Nozick's] critique of America's social welfare system...continues to define the debate between conservatives and liberals."--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times
"A brilliant and important book, bound to contribute notably both to theory and, in time, to the good of society."--W. V. Quine, Harvard University
"This book is the best piece of sustained analytical argument in political philosophy to have appeared for a very long time."--Mind