Friedrich August von Hayek

Nothing is more securely lodged than the ignorance of the experts.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Intellects whose desires have outstripped their understanding.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

We did not realise how fragile our civilisation was.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Competition means decentralized planning by many separate persons.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Any man who is only an economist is unlikely to be a good one.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

The mind cannot foresee its own advance.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Whatever men live for, today most live only because of the market order.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Conservatism is only as good as what it conserves.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

The chief evil is unlimited government, and nobody is qualified to wield unlimited power.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

We shall never prevent the abuse of power if we are not prepared to limit power in a way which occasionally may…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Liberty'''.that condition of man in which coercion of some by others is reduced as much as possible in society

— Friedrich August von Hayek

I must confess that if I had been consulted whether to establish a Nobel Prize in economics, I should have decidedly advised…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

If democracy is a means rather than an end, its limits must be determined in the light of the purpose we want…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

It is of the essence of the demand for equality before the law that people should be treated alike in spite of…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress... it is always…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Our faith in freedom does not rest on the foreseeable results in particular circumstances, but on the belief that it will, on…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Without the rich - without those who accumulated capital - those poor who could exist at all would be very much poorer…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Nowhere has democracy ever worked well without a great measure of local self-government, providing a school of political training for the people…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Why should we, however, in economics, have to plead ignorance of the sort of facts on which, in the case of a…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

I was quite depressed two weeks ago when I spent an afternoon at Brentano's Bookshop in New York and was looking at…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Competition is like experimentation in science, a discovery process, and it must rely on the self interest of producers, it must allow…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

I have come to feel strongly that the greatest service I can still render to my fellow men would be that I…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

I am still puzzled why those in the United States who truly believe in liberty should not only have allowed the left…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Conservatives are inclined to use the powers of government to prevent change or to limit its rate to whatever appeals to the…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

The chief point we must remember is that the great and rapid advance of the physical sciences took place in fields where…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Everything which might cause doubt about the wisdom of the government or create discontent will be kept from the people. The basis…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

The central problem of management is how spontaneous interaction of people within a firm, each possessing only bits of knowledge, can bring…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Our hopes of avoiding the fate which threatens must...[be to make]adjustments that will be needed if we are to recover and surpass…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

And it's a necessity [for journalists] to pretend to be competent on every subject, some of which they really do not understand.…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

It is one of the saddest spectacles of our time to see a great democratic movement support a policy which must lead…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

“The state should confine itself to establishing rules applying to general types of situations and should allow the individuals freedom in everything…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

“Probably it is true enough that the great majority are rarely capable of thinking independently, that on most questions they accept views…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

“Freedom to order our own conduct in the sphere where material circumstances force a choice upon us, and responsibility for the arrangement…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

“The case for individual freedom rests chiefly on the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us concerning a…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

“Few people ever have an abundance of choice of occupation. But what matters is that we have some choice, that we are…

— Friedrich August von Hayek

If socialists understood economics, they wouldn't be socialist.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

In government, the scum rises to the top.

— Friedrich August von Hayek

Capitalism created the possibility of employment.

— Friedrich August von Hayek