Western civilization is based upon the libertarian principle, and all its achievements are the results of the action of free men. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The common man is the sovereign consumer whose buying or abstention from buying ultimately determines what should be produced and in what… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
American authors or scientists are prone to consider the wealthy businessman as a barbarian, as a man exclusively intent upon making money. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
It is labor alone that is productive: it creates wealth and therewith lays the outward foundations for the inward flowering of man. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Man is not, like the animals, an obsequious puppet of instincts and sensual impulses. Man has the power to suppress instinctive desires,… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
So far as Feminism seeks to adjust the legal position of woman to that of man, so far as it seeks to… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
If the present tax rates had been in effect from the beginning of our century, many who are millionaires today would live… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Reason's biological function is to preserve and promote life and to postpone its extinction as long as possible. Thinking and acting are… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
All people, entrepreneurs as well as non-entrepreneurs, look askance upon any profits earned by other people. Envy is a common weakness of… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The vigorous man industriously striving for the improvement of his condition acts neither more nor less than the lethargic man who sluggishly… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The governments alone are responsible for the spread of the superstitious awe with which the common man looks upon every bit of… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
It is evident that youth is the first victim of the trend toward bureaucratization. The young men are deprived of any opportunity… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Two hundred years ago, before the advent of capitalism, a man's social status was fixed from the beginning to the end of… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
It is necessary to curb the power of government. This is the task of all constitutions, bills of rights and laws. This… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
In order to succeed in business a man does not need a degree from a school of business administration. These schools train… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
What impels every man to the utmost exertion in the service of his fellow man. Is, in the market not compulsion on… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Those fighting for free enterprise and free competition do not defend the interests of those rich today. They want a free hand… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities of man. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
The standard of living of the common man is higher in those countries which have the greatest number of wealthy entrepreneurs. — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
A short time ago the demagogues blamed capitalism for the poverty of the masses. Today they rather blame capitalism for the "affluence"… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
An entrepreneur cannot be trained. A man becomes and entrepreneur by seizing an opportunity and filling the gap. No special education is… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Socialism in Russia has not brought about an improvement in the conditions of the average man which can be compared with the… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Mankind does not drink alcohol because there are breweries, distilleries, and vineyards; men brew beer, distill spirits, and grow grapes because of… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
The struggle for freedom is not the struggle of the many against the few, but of minorities, sometimes of a minority of… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people.… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Government and state can never be perfect because they owe their raison d'être to the imperfection of man and can attain their… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
Society cannot contribute anything to the breeding and growing of ingenious men. A creative genius cannot be trained. There are no schools… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
The real bosses in the capitalist system of market economy are the consumers. They by their buying and by their abstention from… — Ludwig von Mises Copy Share Image
It is not the fault of the entrepreneurs that the consumers,the people, the common man,prefer liquor to Bibles and detective stories to… — 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
