Isabel Paterson is a Canadian-American political theorist, journalist, and novelist who lived from 1886-1961. Her main non-fiction work, The God of the Machine, is a philosophical and theoretical exploration of the causes of societal flourishing throughout history. It’s still heralded today as one of the great libertarian works of the mid-20th century.
Paterson’s many novels, book reviews, and columns were popular in her time, but are rarely read today.
For a brief biography of Paterson, head here.
The God of the Machine
In The God of the Machine—the clearest statement of Paterson’s philosophical and political beliefs—she attempts to answer the question of why some societies thrive while others do not (hint: laws matter). One of the most well known chapters, “The Humanitarian with the Guillotine,” is a good place to begin if you’re unsure about committing to the whole book.
Other Works by and about Paterson
The Golden Vanity, a later novel of Paterson, deals with the struggles faced by a mix of characters after the stock market crash of 1929 and the economic depression that followed. In The Golden Vanity, Paterson explores many of the same themes as Ayn Rand does in her fictional works but from a different perspective.
If you’d like to read about Paterson in addition to reading her own writing, we suggest The Woman and the Dynamo: Isabel Paterson and the Idea of America by Stephen Cox.
Isabel Paterson Quotes
“If there were just one gift you could choose, but nothing barred, what would it be? We wish you then your own wish; you name it. Ours is liberty, now and forever.” — “Turns with a Bookworm,” December 28, 1941
“The principle of social harmony is liberty, the rights of the individual…”-The God of the Machine, 1943
“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends… when millions are slaughtered, when torture is practiced, starvation enforced, oppression made a policy, as at present over a large part of the world, and as it has often been in the past, it must be at the behest of very many good people, and even by their direct action, for what they consider a worthy object.” — The God of the Machine, 1943