Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenGovernmentEconomicLibertyCapitalismEconomicsPeopleIfsSocialismMean

Famous Ludwig von Mises Quotes

“The riches of successful entrepreneurs is not the cause of anybody's poverty; it is the consequence of the fact that the consumers are better supplied than they would have been in the absence of the entrepreneur's efforts.”

Has BeensFactsCausesEffortPovertySuccessfulConsequenceEntrepreneurRichesAbsenceConsumersSuccessful Entrepreneurs
Book:Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses
Create image

“The idea of Socialism is at once grandiose and simple. . .We may say, in fact, that it is one of the most ambitious creations of the human spirit, . . .so magnificent, so daring, that it has rightly aroused the greatest admiration. If we wish to save the world from barbarism we have to refute Socialism, but we cannot thrust it carelessly aside.”

IfsWorldHumansMayIdeasFactsSpiritWishSimpleCreationSocialismAdmirationDaringAmbitiousMagnificentHuman SpiritThrustSave The WorldBarbarismGrandiose
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“The government pretends to be endowed with the mystical power to accord favors out of an inexhaustible horn of plenty. It is both omniscient and omnipotent. It can by a magic wand create happiness and abundance. The truth is the government cannot give if it does not take from somebody.”

IfsGivingDoeGovernmentMagicTruth IsFavorsPlentyAbundanceMysticalHornsAccordWandsOmnipotentOmniscientMagic Wands
Book:Bureaucracy: The Economist
Create image

“All people, entrepreneurs as well as non-entrepreneurs, look askance upon any profits earned by other people. Envy is a common weakness of men. People are loath to acknowledge the fact that they themselves could have earned profits if they had displayed the same foresight and judgment the successful businessman did.”

PeopleIfsMenWellsLooksFactsCommonSuccessfulJudgmentWeaknessEntrepreneurProfitEnvyAcknowledgeBusinessmanForesightSuccessful BusinessSuccessful BusinessmanWeakness Of Man
Book:Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses
Create image

“Notwithstanding all the passionate fulminations of the spokesmen of governments, the inevitable consequences of inflationism and expansionism...are coming to pass. And then, very late indeed, even simple people will discover that Keynes did not teach us how to perform the 'miracle...of turning a stone into bread,' but the not at all miraculous procedure of eating the seed corn.”

PeopleGovernmentSimpleTeachLateEatingConsequenceStonesMiraclePassionateSeedsBreadInevitableMiraculousCornProceduresKeynes
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Experience shows that nothing is operated with less economy and with more waste of labor and material of every kind than public services and undertakings. Private enterprise on the other hand naturally induces the owner to work with the greatest economy in his own interest.”

KindShowsHandsInterestEconomyMaterialsWasteLaborEnterpriseOwnersPublic ServiceUndertakingsPrivate Enterprise
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
Create image

“The characteristic mark of this age of dictators, wars and revolutions is its anticapitalistic bias. Most governments and political parties were eager to restrict the sphere of private initiative and free enterprise.”

WarGovernmentAgePoliticalPartyRevolutionMarkCharacteristicsEnterpriseSpheresInitiativeDictatorBiasPolitical PartiesFree Enterprise
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
Create image

“The [liberals] consider profits as objectionable. The very existence of profits is in their eyes a proof that wage rates could be raised without harm to anybody. They speak of profit without dealing with loss. Profit and loss are the instruments by means of which the consumers keep a tight rein on all business activities. A profitable enterprise tends to expand; an unprofitable one tends to shrink. The elimination of profit renders production rigid and abolishes the consumer's control.”

MeanEyeSpeakLossExistenceActivityInstrumentsRaisedRateProfitProductionsHarmProofConsumersEnterpriseShrinksProfitableAbolishEliminationReinsProfit And Loss
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“There would not be any profits but for the eagerness of the public to acquire the merchandise offered for sale by the successful entrepreneur. But the same people who scramble for these articles vilify the businessman and call his profit ill-got.”

PeopleSuccessfulEntrepreneurIllProfitAcquireArticlesBusinessmanEagernessSuccessful EntrepreneursMerchandiseVilify
Book:Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses
Create image

“Government policies try to prevent the emergence of serious unemployment by credit expansion, i.e., inflation. The outcome was rising prices, renewed demands for higher wages and reiterated credit expansion; in short, protracted inflation.”

TryingGovernmentPolicySeriousHigherDemandCreditOutcomesRisingExpansionUnemploymentWagesInflationEmergenceGovernment PolicyRising Prices
Book:Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses
Create image

“Capital does not 'beget profit' as Marx thought. The capital goods as such are dead things that in themselves do not accomplish anything. If they are utilized according to a good idea, profit results. If they are utilized according to a mistaken idea, no profit or losses result. It is the entrepreneurial decision that creates either profit or loss.”

IfsDoeIdeasLossDecisionResultsProfitAccomplishGoodsGood IdeasMistakenEntrepreneurialBegets
Book:Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses
Create image

“The Pseudo-liberals monopolize the teaching jobs at many universities. Only men who agree with them are appointed as teachers and instructors of the social sciences, and only textbooks supporting their ideas are used.”

MenIdeasJobsUsedSocialTeacherTeachingAgreeUniversityTextbooksSocial SciencePseudoInstructors
Book:Planning for Freedom: Let the Market System Work : a Collection of Essays and Addresses
Create image

“Capitalism has improved the standard of living of the wage earners to an unprecedented extent. The average American family enjoys today amenities of which, only a hundred years ago, not even the richest nabobs dreamed.”

YearsTodayEnjoyStandardsHundredCapitalismYears AgoAverageUnprecedentedStandards Of LivingAmerican FamilyAmenitiesEnjoy Today
Book:Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses
Create image