All Frederic Bastiat Quotes
- If goods don't cross borders, armies will. Armies
- Is not liberty the destruction of all despotism - including, of course, legal despotism? All
- The solution of the social problem is in liberty. Liberty
- Since the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to allow them liberty, how comes it to pass that the… Allow
- Legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways; hence, there are an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, bonuses,… Aggregate
- The state tends to expand in proportion to its means of existence and to live beyond its means, and these are, in the last analysis,… Action
- The law commit legal plunder by violating liberty and property. Commit
- Competition is merely the absence of oppression. Absence
- The real cost of the State is the prosperity we do not see, the jobs that don’t exist, the technologies to which we do not… Access
- They would be the shepherds over us, their sheep. Certainly such an arrangement presupposes that they are naturally superior to the rest of us. And… Arrangement
- Society is composed of men, and every man is a FREE agent. Since man is free, he can choose; since he can choose, he can… Agent
- The impulses of my heart are the voice of Nature, which is never mistaken. The institutions that stand in my way are man-made and are… Arbitrary
- If socialists mean that under extraordinary circumstances, for urgent cases, the State should set aside some resources to assist certain unfortunate people, to help them… Adjust
- If philanthropy is not voluntary, it destroys liberty and justice. The law can give nothing that has not first been taken from its owner. Been
- And what is liberty, whose very name makes the heart beat faster and shakes the world? Is it not the union of all liberties -… All
- The most urgent necessity is, not that the State should teach, but that it should allow education. All monopolies are detestable, but the worst of… All
- And this is what has taken place. The delusion of the day is to enrich all classes at the expense of each other; it is… All
- It is easier to show the disorder that must accompany reform than the order that should follow it. Accompany
- Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform… Ah
- If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the… Agents
- Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough. Reform
- The mission of law is not to oppress persons and plunder them of their property, even thought the law may be acting in a philanthropic… Acting
- It is not true that the legislator has absolute power over our persons and property. The existence of persons and property preceded the existence of… Absolute
- As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose--that it may violate property instead of protecting it--then everyone… Admitted
- But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives… Belong