… is from an 1807 letter from U.S. Treasury secretary Albert Gallatin to Pres. Thomas Jefferson; it is quoted on page 24 of George H. Smith’s excellent 2013 book, The System of Liberty:
Government prohibitions do always more mischief than had been calculated; and it is not without much hesitation that a statesman should hazard to regulate the concerns of individuals as if he could do it better than themselves.
