Every man aims at avoiding what causes him pain; the activities of government ultimately consist in the infliction of pain. All great achievements of mankind were the product of a spontaneous effort on the part of individuals; government substitutes coercion… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
During the 2300 years since Plato, very little opposition has been registered to his ideas. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
“How little one is justified in speaking in this connection of "optimism" and "pessimism" and how much the characterization of liberalism as "optimistic" aims… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
Every step by which an individual substitutes concerted action for isolated action results in an immediate and recognizable improvement in his conditions. The advantages… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
The capitalistic social order, therefore, is an economic democracy in the strictest sense of the word. In the last analysis, all decisions are dependent… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
Without calculation, economic activity is impossible. Since under Socialism economic calculation is impossible, under Socialism there can be no economic activity in our sense… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
There is no kind of freedom and liberty other than the kind which the market economy brings about. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
What counts alone is the innovator, the dissenter, the harbinger of things unheard of, the man who rejects the traditional standards and aims at… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
All this talk: the state should do this or that, ultimately means: the police should force consumers to behave otherwise than they would behave… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
The most successful businessmen were often uneducated when measured by the scholastic standards of the teaching profession. But they were equal to their social… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of his life;… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
Facts per se can neither prove nor refute anything. Everything is decided by the interpretation and explanation of the facts, by the ideas and… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share
