--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now since man is naturally inclined to…" description: "\"Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/frederic-bastiat-2151_collectives_now-since-man-is-naturally-inclined-to-a_2621523.jpg" --- # Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and… ![“Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it. When, then, does plunder…” quote by Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/frederic-bastiat-2151_collectives_now-since-man-is-naturally-inclined-to-a_2621523.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/frederic-bastiat-2151_collectives_now-since-man-is-naturally-inclined-to-a_2621523.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/570/frederic-bastiat-2151_collectives_now-since-man-is-naturally-inclined-to-a_2621523.jpg) > “Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it. When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor. It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. All the measures of the law should protect property and punish plunder.” [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature tends toward avoiding pain, so people choose plunder when it seems easier than work; law must make plunder more costly than labor. **In simple terms:** People avoid pain, so they steal if it's easier; law should make stealing harder than work. Key Takeaway Make plunder more painful than work. Themes human nature law economics morality property Mood cautious analytical Type theoretical policy When to use this quote - government policy - business regulation - crime prevention - social contract Key Concepts self‑interest collective enforcement deterrence Questions to Reflect On - How can societies balance enforcement costs with deterrence? - What incentives reduce the appeal of plunder? A Different Perspective If law is weak, plunder persists; enforcement costs can be high. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Property](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/property/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Resorts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resorts/) ## Related quotes > [Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/now-since-man-is-naturally-inclined-to-avoid-pain-and-since-labor-is/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/when-then-does-plunder-stop-it-stops-when-it-becomes-more-painful-and/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“The hunter does not plunder his world – he takes from it only what he truly needs. In this way the hunter ensures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-un-mares/the-hunter-does-not-plunder-his-world-he-takes-from-it-only-what-he/) [Théun Mares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-un-mares/) > [On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground, attack not. On open ground, do not try to block…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/on-dispersive-ground-therefore-fight-not-on-facile-ground-halt-not-on/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Legal plunder has two roots: One, as we have just seen, is in human selfishness; the other is in false philanthropy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/legal-plunder-has-two-roots-one-as-we-have-just-seen-is-in-human/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/it-is-easy-to-understand-why-the-law-is-used-by-the-legislator-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The law can be an instrument of equalization only as it takes from some persons and gives to other persons. When the law does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-can-be-an-instrument-of-equalization-only-as-it-takes-from/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/it-is-impossible-to-introduce-into-society-a-greater-change-and-a/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [And this is what has taken place. The delusion of the day is to enrich all classes at the expense of each other; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/and-this-is-what-has-taken-place-the-delusion-of-the-day-is-to-enrich/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Men naturally rebel against the injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for the profit of those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/men-naturally-rebel-against-the-injustice-of-which-they-are-victims/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The mission of the law is not to oppress persons and plunder them of their property, even though the law may be acting in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-mission-of-the-law-is-not-to-oppress-persons-and-plunder-them-of/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/when-plunder-becomes-a-way-of-life-for-a-group-of-men-in-a-society/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [There are people who think that plunder loses all its immorality as soon as it becomes legal. Personally, I cannot imagine a more alarming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/there-are-people-who-think-that-plunder-loses-all-its-immorality-as/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/sometimes-the-law-defends-plunder-and-participates-in-it-sometimes/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) ## More by Frederic Bastiat > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [If every person has the right to defend - even by force - his person, his liberty, and his property, then it follows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/if-every-person-has-the-right-to-defend-even-by-force-his-person-his/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/sometimes-the-law-defends-plunder-and-participates-in-it-sometimes/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Slavery, protection, and monopoly find defenders, not only in those who profit by them, but in those who suffer by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/slavery-protection-and-monopoly-find-defenders-not-only-in-those-who/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Often the masses are plundered and do not know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/often-the-masses-are-plundered-and-do-not-know-it/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/here-i-encounter-the-most-popular-fallacy-of-our-times-it-is-not/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The state is the great fictitious entity by which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-state-is-the-great-fictitious-entity-by-which-everyone-seeks-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [There is in all of a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/there-is-in-all-of-a-strong-disposition-to-believe-that-anything/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [I believe that my theory is correct; for whatever be the question upon which I am arguing, whether it be religious, philosophical, political, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/i-believe-that-my-theory-is-correct-for-whatever-be-the-question-upon/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The balance of trade is an article of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-balance-of-trade-is-an-article-of-faith/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [There are people who think that plunder loses all its immorality as soon as it becomes legal. Personally, I cannot imagine a more alarming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/there-are-people-who-think-that-plunder-loses-all-its-immorality-as/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“And now, after having vainly inflicted upon the social body so many systems, let them end where they ought to have begun—reject all systems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/and-now-after-having-vainly-inflicted-upon-the-social-body-so-many/) [Frédéric Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [When misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/when-misguided-public-opinion-honors-what-is-despicable-and-despises/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/there-is-only-one-difference-between-a-bad-economist-and-a-good-one/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) [Explore all 182 Frederic Bastiat quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) ## More Collectives quotes > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. 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And that can be done in only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/it-clearly-follows-that-to-make-men-moral-it-is-necessary-to-make/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [There is a way in which the collective knowledge of mankind expresses itself, for the finite individual, through mere daily living . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurens-van-der-post/there-is-a-way-in-which-the-collective-knowledge-of-mankind-expresses/) [Laurens van der Post](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurens-van-der-post/) > [The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-law-is-the-collective-organization-of-the-individual-s-right-to/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/but-we-need-to-be-very-clear-because-of-our-decades-of-collective/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Through Sahaja Yoga what happens to you, that you become a collective personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/through-sahaja-yoga-what-happens-to-you-that-you-become-a-collective/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [If you don't allow people to contribute, to offer their point of view, or to criticize what has been put before them, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/if-you-don-t-allow-people-to-contribute-to-offer-their-point-of-view/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We seem to have lost contact with the earlier, more profound functions of art, which have always had to do with personal and collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-london/we-seem-to-have-lost-contact-with-the-earlier-more-profound-functions/) [Peter London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-london/) > [If you need someone to come out of the sewer with a wire you don't hire someone who needs laborious collective instruction. 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Man, in the collective sense, is the hero of Earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/man-in-the-collective-sense-is-the-hero-of-science-man-in-the/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) Browse all 1,039 Collectives quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain - and since labor is pain in itself - it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it. When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor. It is evident, then, that the proper purpose of law is to use the power of its collective force to stop this fatal tendency to plunder instead of to work. 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