--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If most people are not willing to see the…" description: "\"If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg" --- # If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this… ![“If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will settle these questions for the others, and because they are convinced of their own capacity to do this.” quote by Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg) > “If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will settle these questions for the others, and because they are convinced of their own capacity to do this.” [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People avoid confronting difficulty because they expect others to solve problems, overestimating their own ability to delegate. **In simple terms:** People expect others to solve hard problems. Key Takeaway Encourage personal responsibility in tackling challenges. Themes responsibility overconfidence delegation Mood analytical critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - workplace problem solving - public policy - community projects Key Concepts psychology social expectation Questions to Reflect On - Why do we assume others will handle tough issues? - How can we foster collective accountability? A Different Perspective Overreliance on others can stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Consciously Unconsciously](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciously-unconsciously-528859/) [Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convinced/) [Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/difficulty/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-willing/) [Questions Convinced](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questions-convinced-1004300/) [Unconsciously Assume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unconsciously-assume-1004299/) [Willing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing/) [Willing Difficulty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willing-difficulty-1004298/) ## Related quotes > [People are more willing to buy branded goods provided they are persuaded that they are getting value from them. 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Borysenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-z-borysenko/) > [When you make music you are acting as a philosopher. You can either do that consciously or you can do it unconsciously, but you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/when-you-make-music-you-are-acting-as-a-philosopher-you-can-either-do/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Gerald's Game' had such an impact on me when I read the book in college that I think I've actually, consciously or unconsciously, been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-flanagan/gerald-s-game-had-such-an-impact-on-me-when-i-read-the-book-in/) [Mike Flanagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-flanagan/) > [“Consciously or unconsciously, our education renders us slaves to morals, religion and a perceived vision of the world; our breath is the air of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stefan-zweig/consciously-or-unconsciously-our-education-renders-us-slaves-to/) [Stefan Zweig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stefan-zweig/) > [Consciously or unconsciously, we are all striving for perfection. Every being must attain to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/consciously-or-unconsciously-we-are-all-striving-for-perfection-every/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“If you’ve been in physical pain or emotional suffering for a long period of time, you have to ask yourself if you are either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-carrigan/if-you-ve-been-in-physical-pain-or-emotional-suffering-for-a-long/) [Catherine Carrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-carrigan/) ## More by Friedrich August von Hayek > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [By the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/by-the-time-any-view-becomes-a-majority-view-it-is-no-longer-the-best/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Freedom can be preserved only if it is treated as a supreme principle which must not be sacrificed for particular advantages.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/freedom-can-be-preserved-only-if-it-is-treated-as-a-supreme-principle/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Should our moral beliefs really prove to be dependent on factual assumptions shown to be incorrect, it would be hardly moral to defend them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/should-our-moral-beliefs-really-prove-to-be-dependent-on-factual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [It is true that the virtues which are less esteemed and practiced now--independence, self-reliance, and the willingness to bear risks, the readiness to back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-true-that-the-virtues-which-are-less-esteemed-and-practiced-now/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Unlike the rationalism of the French Revolution, true liberalism has no quarrel with religion, and I can only deplore the militant and essentially illiberal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/unlike-the-rationalism-of-the-french-revolution-true-liberalism-has/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must make the building of a free society once more an intellectual adventure, a deed of courage… Unless we can make the philosophic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-make-the-building-of-a-free-society-once-more-an-intellectual/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The central problem of management is how spontaneous interaction of people within a firm, each possessing only bits of knowledge, can bring about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-central-problem-of-management-is-how-spontaneous-interaction-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The discussions of every age are filled with the issues on which its leading schools of thought differ. But the general intellectual atmosphere of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-discussions-of-every-age-are-filled-with-the-issues-on-which-its/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-nobel-prize-confers-on-an-individual-an-authority-which-in/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [ \[Socialistic\] economic planning, regulation, and intervention pave the way to totalitarianism by building a power structure that will inevitably be seized by the most… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/socialistic-economic-planning-regulation-and-intervention-pave-the/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [It is rather a problem of how to secure the best use of resources known to any of the members of society, for ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/it-is-rather-a-problem-of-how-to-secure-the-best-use-of-resources/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [The state itself becomes more and more identified with the interests of those who run things than with the interests of the people in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-state-itself-becomes-more-and-more-identified-with-the-interests/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/we-must-face-the-fact-that-the-preservation-of-individual-freedom-is/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Human envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. It is probably one of the essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/human-envy-is-certainly-not-one-of-the-sources-of-discontent-that-a/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) [Explore all 244 Friedrich August von Hayek quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) ## More Adversity quotes > [We love playing together and we love adversity. You know, back-to-back, the two best teams in the East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/we-love-playing-together-and-we-love-adversity-you-know-back-to-back/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [When we have public success we also have private struggles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deion-sanders/when-we-have-public-success-we-also-have-private-struggles/) [Deion Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deion-sanders/) > [“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/the-threats-that-resurfaced-in-the-past-10-years-were-not-an/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“Friction is necessary. Ease of life leads to complacency and the atrophy of the human will and spirit. Within our struggles lives our strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/friction-is-necessary-ease-of-life-leads-to-complacency-and-the/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Every adversity is just another opportunity to excel a little more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-templet/every-adversity-is-just-another-opportunity-to-excel-a-little-more/) [Michel Templet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-templet/) > [“Just because she doesn't talk about it, doesn't mean she isn't feeling it. She hurts, but she won't wear it on her sleeve. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/just-because-she-doesn-t-talk-about-it-doesn-t-mean-she-isn-t-feeling/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) [James Buckham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buckham-kennedy/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Struggles are not associated to a particular people or creed, everyone struggles, not for the same reasons, but each has a personal struggle at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/struggles-are-not-associated-to-a-particular-people-or-creed-everyone/) [Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/) > [“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/watch-a-man-in-times-of-adversity-to-discover-what-kind-of-man-he-is/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [God often hides His blessing in trouble or trial, which makes it all the sweeter when it comes our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/god-often-hides-his-blessing-in-trouble-or-trial-which-makes-it-all/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Life is not about less mistakes but about more trials”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-sever/life-is-not-about-less-mistakes-but-about-more-trials/) [S.E. SEVER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-sever/) > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,001 Adversity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously, they assume that it will be they who will settle these questions for the others, and because they are convinced of their own capacity to do this.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Friedrich August von Hayek" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-the-difficulty-this-is-mainly/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adversity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-the-difficulty-this-is-mainly/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b1/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_adversity_if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-th_2495020.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If most people are not willing to see the difficulty, this is mainly because, consciously or unconsciously…” — Friedrich August von Hayek", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Friedrich August von Hayek", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If most people are not willing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-the-difficulty-this-is-mainly/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/if-most-people-are-not-willing-to-see-the-difficulty-this-is-mainly/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```