Individual Quotes by Ludwig von Mises

To assign to everybody his proper place in society is the task of the consumers. Their buying and abstention from buying is…

— Ludwig von Mises

Action based on reason, action therefore which is only to be understood by reason, knows only one end, the greatest pleasure of…

— Ludwig von Mises

Socialism and interventionism. Both have in common the goal of subordinating the individual unconditionally to the state.

— Ludwig von Mises

Private property creates for the individual a sphere in which he is free of the state. It sets limits to the operation…

— Ludwig von Mises

All rational action is in the first place individual action. Only the individual thinks. Only the individual reasons. Only the individual acts.

— Ludwig von Mises

The capitalist system was termed "capitalism" not by a friend of the system, but by an individual who considered it to be…

— Ludwig von Mises

The aim of all struggles for liberty is to keep in bounds the armed defenders of peace, the governors and their constables.…

— Ludwig von Mises

Competition on the market aims at assigning to every individual that function in the social system in which he can render to…

— Ludwig von Mises

If the present American laws concerning the taxation of the profits of corporations, the incomes of individuals, and inheritances had been introduced…

— Ludwig von Mises

Every man aims at avoiding what causes him pain; the activities of government ultimately consist in the infliction of pain. All great…

— Ludwig von Mises

The market steers the capitalistic economy. It directs each individual's activities into those channels in which he best serves the wants of…

— Ludwig von Mises

Capitalism means free enterprise, sovereignty of the consumers in economic matters, and sovereignty of the voters in political matters. Socialism means full…

— Ludwig von Mises

What makes the existence and the evolution of society possible is precisely the fact that peaceful cooperation under the social division of…

— Ludwig von Mises

In relation to the immense sacrifices that the state demands of the individual through the blood tax, it seems rather incidental whether…

— Ludwig von Mises

History does not provide any example of capital accumulation brought about by a government. As far as governments invested in the construction…

— Ludwig von Mises

There is no use in deceiving ourselves. American public opinion rejects the market economy, the capitalistic free enterprise system that provided the…

— Ludwig von Mises

Private property creates for the individual a sphere in which he is free of the state. It sets limits to the operation…

— Ludwig von Mises

A famous, very often quoted phrase says: "That government is best, which governs least." I do not believe this to be a…

— Ludwig von Mises

The main characteristic of collectivism is that it does not take notice of the individual's will and moral self-determination. In the light…

— Ludwig von Mises

Spontaneous actions of individuals, aiming at nothing else than at the improvement of their own state of satisfaction, undermined the prestige of…

— Ludwig von Mises

Once it has been perceived that the division of labour is the essence of society, nothing remains of the antithesis between individual…

— Ludwig von Mises

As soon as we surrender the principle that the state should not interfere in any questions touching on the individuals mode of…

— Ludwig von Mises

Every step by which an individual substitutes concerted action for isolated action results in an immediate and recognizable improvement in his conditions.…

— Ludwig von Mises

The productivity of social cooperation surpasses in every respect the sum total of the production of isolated individuals.

— Ludwig von Mises

Free markets. What does this system mean? The answer is simple: it is the market economy, it is the system in which…

— Ludwig von Mises

The meaning of economic freedom is this: that the individual is in a position to choose the way in which he wants…

— Ludwig von Mises

Once the principle is admitted that it is the duty of the government to protect the individual against his own foolishness, no…

— Ludwig von Mises

Society is only possible on these terms, that the individual finds therein a strengthening of his own ego and his own will.

— Ludwig von Mises

Laissez faire does not mean: let soulless mechanical forces operate. It means: let individuals choose how they want to cooperate in the…

— Ludwig von Mises

The greater productivity of work under the division of labor is a unifying influence. It leads men to regard each other as…

— Ludwig von Mises

The state is the only institution entitled to apply coercion and compulsion and to inflict harm upon individuals. This tremendous power cannot…

— Ludwig von Mises

As society is only possible if everyone, while living his own life, at the same time helps others to live; if every…

— Ludwig von Mises

It is always the individual who thinks. Society does not think any more than it eats or drinks. The evolution of human…

— Ludwig von Mises