--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is rarely remembered now that…" description: "\"It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its beginnings was frankly authoritarian. It began quite openly as a reaction against the liberalism of t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/585/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_boards_it-is-rarely-remembered-now-that-sociali_1023935.jpg" --- # It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its… ![“It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its beginnings was frankly authoritarian. It began quite openly as a reaction against the liberalism of the French Revolution. The French writers who laid its foundation had no doubt that their ideas could be put into practice only by a strong…” quote by Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/585/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_boards_it-is-rarely-remembered-now-that-sociali_1023935.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/585/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_boards_it-is-rarely-remembered-now-that-sociali_1023935.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/585/friedrich-august-von-hayek-141_boards_it-is-rarely-remembered-now-that-sociali_1023935.jpg) > “It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its beginnings was frankly authoritarian. It began quite openly as a reaction against the liberalism of the French Revolution. The French writers who laid its foundation had no doubt that their ideas could be put into practice only by a strong dictatorial government. The first of modern planners, Saint-Simon, predicted that those who did not obey his proposed planning boards would be 'treated as cattle'.” [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. Early socialism was openly authoritarian, seeking to implement ideas through strong centralized control. **In simple terms:** Socialism began with dictatorial intent. Key Takeaway Question authority in political systems. Themes authoritarianism politics history Mood critical analytical Type political historical When to use this quote - policy analysis - education - activism - public debate Key Concepts economics ideology planning Questions to Reflect On - Can true liberty coexist with central planning? - What safeguards prevent authoritarian drift? A Different Perspective Idealistic visions can mask oppressive mechanisms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Authoritarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [French revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/french-revolution/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Liberalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberalism/) [Planning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/planning/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Saint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/saint/) [Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socialism/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [The advantage of a free market is that it allows millions of decision-makers to respond individually to freely determined prices, allocating resources - labor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-advantage-of-a-free-market-is-that-it-allows-millions-of-decision/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Even the striving for equality by means of a directed economy can result only in an officially enforced inequality - an authoritarian determination of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/even-the-striving-for-equality-by-means-of-a-directed-economy-can/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [If I ever had the time to take on another job, being a party planner would be high on my list.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tori-spelling/if-i-ever-had-the-time-to-take-on-another-job-being-a-party-planner/) [Tori Spelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tori-spelling/) > [The funny thing is that I'm not a planner. I have no idea what I want to do in the interim of that 50…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-bell/the-funny-thing-is-that-i-m-not-a-planner-i-have-no-idea-what-i-want/) [Kristen Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-bell/) > [Our planning system was dynamite when we first put it in. The thinking was fresh; the form mattered little. It was idea oriented. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-welch/our-planning-system-was-dynamite-when-we-first-put-it-in-the-thinking/) [John Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-welch/) > [A good financial planner is going to do more than pick your funds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/a-good-financial-planner-is-going-to-do-more-than-pick-your-funds/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) > [Thinking ahead, what really happens to us will depend on how many people we have who are of the great and sober and dynamic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-menzies/thinking-ahead-what-really-happens-to-us-will-depend-on-how-many/) [Robert Menzies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-menzies/) > [A designer is a planner with an aesthetic sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-munari/a-designer-is-a-planner-with-an-aesthetic-sense/) [Bruno Munari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-munari/) > [I know some writers are meticulous planners, but I'm not one of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/i-know-some-writers-are-meticulous-planners-but-i-m-not-one-of-them/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I'm a planner, and most networks don't plan. Bravo doesn't plan. Bravo is lucky in a lot of ways - they've got a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-stanger/i-m-a-planner-and-most-networks-don-t-plan-bravo-doesn-t-plan-bravo/) [Patti Stanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-stanger/) > [But too often the goal of the planners is a universal gray state of health corresponding to absence of disease rather than to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-dubos/but-too-often-the-goal-of-the-planners-is-a-universal-gray-state-of/) [Rene Dubos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-dubos/) > [It is up to us, to this present generation of Americans, to take a stand for freedom, to send a message to Washington that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-perry/it-is-up-to-us-to-this-present-generation-of-americans-to-take-a/) [Rick Perry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-perry/) > [I've often thought that if planners were botanists, zoologists, geologists, and people who know about the earth, we would have much more wisdom in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/i-ve-often-thought-that-if-planners-were-botanists-zoologists/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [God is the one great employer, thinker, planner, supervisor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/god-is-the-one-great-employer-thinker-planner-supervisor/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Where I'm is one of those stair climbing machines the agent has installed. You climb and climb forever and never get off the ground.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/where-i-m-is-one-of-those-stair-climbing-machines-the-agent-has/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## 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 Authoritarian quotes > [Sometimes it's easier for people who are in authority to be authoritarian, because people know where you stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/sometimes-it-s-easier-for-people-who-are-in-authority-to-be/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [We very clearly do not want an authoritarian regime... setting standards in the world marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ratcliffe/we-very-clearly-do-not-want-an-authoritarian-regime-setting-standards/) [John Ratcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ratcliffe/) > [Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/cumulatively-american-society-is-sliding-toward-a-new-form-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“If you care about other people, that's now a very dangerous idea. If you care about other people, you might try to organize to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-care-about-other-people-that-s-now-a-very-dangerous-idea-if/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“Democracy can exist only in the countries where people are brave! Coward nations always live under the authoritarian regimes!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/democracy-can-exist-only-in-the-countries-where-people-are-brave/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Even more than comparing society to a family, comparing it to a body makes an authoritarian ordering of society seem inevitable, immutable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/even-more-than-comparing-society-to-a-family-comparing-it-to-a-body/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are not and will never be an authoritarian regime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/we-are-not-and-will-never-be-an-authoritarian-regime/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [Why do economists fall in love with authoritarian governments?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasheng-huang/why-do-economists-fall-in-love-with-authoritarian-governments/) Yasheng Huang > [“Just as in the Trump-Giuliani Ukraine conspiracy, we saw a ruthless, single-minded obsession with staying in power; a manifest lack of moral values, shame,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-yovanovitch/just-as-in-the-trump-giuliani-ukraine-conspiracy-we-saw-a-ruthless/) Marie Yovanovitch > [North Korea aside, most authoritarian governments have already accepted the growth of the Internet culture as inevitable; they have little choice but to find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/north-korea-aside-most-authoritarian-governments-have-already/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [I am the first authoritarian government elected to become a dictator and then resigning as a dictator. So this is the first dictator in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahathir-mohamad/i-am-the-first-authoritarian-government-elected-to-become-a-dictator/) [Mahathir Mohamad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahathir-mohamad/) > [There is an authoritarian strain in all of Leftism-- because the bigger the government, the more it controls other peoples' lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/there-is-an-authoritarian-strain-in-all-of-leftism-because-the-bigger/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) > [My position and the state will never allow me to become a dictator, but an authoritarian style of rule is characteristic of me, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-lukashenko/my-position-and-the-state-will-never-allow-me-to-become-a-dictator/) [Alexander Lukashenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-lukashenko/) > [You really don't create an authoritarian society unless you control the personal choices including the sexual choices of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hefner/you-really-don-t-create-an-authoritarian-society-unless-you-control/) [Hugh Hefner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hefner/) > [The question is: Particularly in the post-9/11 era, are societies becoming more liberal or more authoritarian?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/the-question-is-particularly-in-the-post-9-11-era-are-societies/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) [Browse all 185 Authoritarian quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authoritarian/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is rarely remembered now that socialism in its beginnings was frankly authoritarian. 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