Ideas Quotes by Ludwig von Mises

Both force and money are impotent against ideas.

— Ludwig von Mises

In a battle between force and an idea, the latter always prevails.

— Ludwig von Mises

During the 2300 years since Plato, very little opposition has been registered to his ideas.

— Ludwig von Mises

The aim of the popularization of economic studies is not to make every man an economist. The idea is to equip the…

— Ludwig von Mises

We must fight all that we dislike in public life. We must substitute better ideas for wrong ideas.

— Ludwig von Mises

The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom…

— Ludwig von Mises

The word "Capitalism" expresses, for our age, the sum of all evil. Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas.

— Ludwig von Mises

Progress of any kind is always at variance with the old and established ideas and therefore with the codes inspired by them.…

— Ludwig von Mises

Facts per se can neither prove nor refute anything. Everything is decided by the interpretation and explanation of the facts, by the…

— Ludwig von Mises

The study of economics has been again and again led astray by the vain idea that economics must proceed according to the…

— Ludwig von Mises

Thoughts and ideas are not phantoms. They are real things. Although intangible and immaterial, they are factors in bringing about changes in…

— Ludwig von Mises

The flowering of human society depends on two factors: the intellectual power of outstanding men to conceive sound social and economic theories,…

— Ludwig von Mises

The genuine history of mankind is the history of ideas. It is ideas that distinguish man from all other beings. Ideas engender…

— Ludwig von Mises

Education rears disciples, imitators, and routinists, not pioneers of new ideas and creative geniuses. The schools are not nurseries of progress and…

— Ludwig von Mises

The Pseudo-liberals monopolize the teaching jobs at many universities. Only men who agree with them are appointed as teachers and instructors of…

— Ludwig von Mises

It is impossible to grasp the meaning of the idea of sound money if one does not realize that it was devised…

— Ludwig von Mises

The liberals of the eighteenth century, guided by the ideas of natural law and of the Enlightenment, demanded for everyone equality of…

— Ludwig von Mises

The idea of Socialism is at once grandiose and simple. . .We may say, in fact, that it is one of the…

— Ludwig von Mises

In the world of reality, life, and human action there is no such thing as interests independent of ideas, preceding them temporarily…

— Ludwig von Mises

Inflationism, however, is not an isolated phenomenon. It is only one piece in the total framework of politico-economic and socio-philosophical ideas of…

— Ludwig von Mises

The so-called liberals of today have the very popular idea that freedom of speech, of thought, of the press, freedom of religion,…

— Ludwig von Mises

Only stilted pedants can conceive the idea that there are absolute norms to tell what is beautiful and what is not. They…

— Ludwig von Mises

Capital does not 'beget profit' as Marx thought. The capital goods as such are dead things that in themselves do not accomplish…

— Ludwig von Mises

In the long run even the most despotic governments with all their brutality and cruelty are no match for ideas. Eventually the…

— Ludwig von Mises

Not mythical material productive forces, but reason and ideas determine the course of human affairs. What is needed to stop the trend…

— Ludwig von Mises

Only to bureaucrats can the idea occur that establishing new offices, promulgating new decrees, and increasing the number of government employees alone…

— Ludwig von Mises

In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords…

— Ludwig von Mises

In the long run the ideas of the majority, however detrimental they may be, will carry on. The future of mankind depends…

— Ludwig von Mises

What counts alone is the innovator, the dissenter, the harbinger of things unheard of, the man who rejects the traditional standards and…

— Ludwig von Mises

Political ideas that have dominated the public mind for decades cannot be refuted through rational arguments. They must run their course in…

— Ludwig von Mises

The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories, and doctrines that guide human action, determine the…

— Ludwig von Mises