Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenGovernmentEconomicLibertyCapitalismEconomicsPeopleIfsSocialismMeanProductionsStatesWarEconomyActionLibertarianSocialFreedomConsumersHumans

Famous Ludwig von Mises Quotes

“A man who chooses between drinking a glass of milk and a glass of a solution of potassium cyanide does not choose between two beverages; he chooses between life and death. A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.”

WarGovernmentLawEvilPoliticsPeaceFreedomLibertyRightsViolenceSocietyCapitalismTradePropertyLibertarianSocialismCommunismAnarchyIndividualismFreeFree MarketCoercionProperty RightsCollectivismStatismVoluntaryismIndividual RightsMarketsLaissez FaireNon Aggression PrincipleAncapAnarcho CapitalismAustrian School Of Economics
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Rhetorical bombast, music and song resound, banners wave, flowers and colors serve as symbols, and the leaders seek to attach their followers to their own person. Liberalism has nothing to do with all this. It has no party flower and no party color, no party song and no party idols, no symbols and no slogans. It has the substance and the arguments. These must lead it to victory.”

WarGovernmentEvilPoliticsPeaceFreedomLibertySocietyCapitalismTradeLibertarianSocialismCommunismLiberalismNationalismAnarchyFascismFreeTaxationFree MarketTheftCoercionStatismVoluntaryismLaissez FaireNon Aggression Principle
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“What ranks above all else for economic and political reconstruction is a radical change of ideologies. Economic prosperity is not so much a material problem; it is, first of all, an intellectual, spiritual, and moral problem.”

GovernmentEvilPoliticsFreedomLibertyMoralityEthicsCapitalismEconomicsTradeLibertarianSocialismAnarchyMoralsFreeFree MarketCoercionCollectivismImmoralityStatismVoluntaryismLaissez FaireAncapAnarcho CapitalismAustrian School Of Economics
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“A government always finds itself obliged to resort to inflationary measures when it cannot negotiate loans and dare not levy taxes, because it has reason to fear that it will forfeit approval of the policy it is following if it reveals too soon the financial and general economic consequences of that policy. Thus inflation becomes the most important psychological resource of any economic policy whose consequences have to be concealed; and so in this sense it can be called an instrument of unpopular, i.e. of anti-democratic, policy, since by misleading public opinion it makes possible the continued existence of a system of government that would have no hope of the consent of the people if the circumstances were clearly laid before them. That is the political function of inflation. It explains why inflation has always been an important resource of policies of war and revolution and why we also find it in the service of socialism.”

FreedomMoneyCapitalismEconomics
Book:The Theory of Money and Credit
Create image

“There has been much talk about the alleged exploitation of the debtor nations by the creditor nations. But if the concept of exploitation is to be applied to these relations, it is rather an exploitation of the investing by the receiving nations. These loans and investments were not intended as gifts. The loans were made upon solemn stipulation of payment of principal and interest. The investments were made in the expectation that property rights would be respected. With the exception of the bulk of the investments made in the United States, in some of the British dominions, and in some smaller countries, these expectations have been disappointed. Bonds have been defaulted or will be in the next few years. Direct investments have been confiscated or soon will be. The capital-exporting countries can do nothing but wipe off their balances.”

CapitalismColonialismThird WorldEconomic DevelopmentCreditor NationsDebtor NationsInternational Capitalism
Book:Omnipotent Government
Create image

“Perhaps the grumbler will object on the ground that he considers p a vital commodity, much more important than q, and that therefore the production of p should be expanded and that of q restricted. If this is really the meaning of his criticism, he is at variance with the valuations of the consumers. He throws off his mask and shows his dictatorial aspirations. Production should not be directed by the wishes of the public but by his own despotic discretion.”

LossCapitalismProfitTyrannySocialismDepotism
Book:Profit and Loss
Create image

“Resentment is at work when one so hates somebody for his more favorable circumstances that one is prepared to bear heavy losses if only the hated one might also come to harm. Many of those who attack capitalism know very well that their situation under any other economic system will be less favorable.”

IfsKnowsWellsMightHateLossSituationEconomicBearsCircumstancesCapitalismPreparedHeavyHarmHatedResentmentEconomic Systems
Book:The free and prosperous commonwealth: an exposition of the ideas of classical liberalism
Create image

“Inflationism, however, is not an isolated phenomenon. It is only one piece in the total framework of politico-economic and socio-philosophical ideas of our time. Just as the sound money policy of gold standard advocates went hand in hand with liberalism, free trade, capitalism and peace, so is inflationism part and parcel of imperialism, militarism, protectionism, statism and socialism.”

IdeasHandsSoundPiecesEconomicPolicyStandardsCapitalismGoldPhilosophicalTradeInvestingSocialismOur TimeLiberalismPhenomenonIsolatedImperialismFrameworkHand In HandFree TradeOne PieceMilitarismParcelGold StandardProtectionism
Book:On the Manipulation of Money and Credit
Create image

“You know that the population is of this planet is now ten times greater than it was in the ages preceding capitalism.; you know that all men today enjoy a higher standard of living than your ancestors did before the age of capitalism. But how do you know that you are the one out of ten who would have lived in the absence of capitalism? The mere fact that you are living today is proof that capitalism has succeeded, whether or not you consider your own life very valuable.”

KnowsMenFactsAgeTodayEnjoyGreaterPlanetsHigherTenStandardsCapitalismMerePopulationValuableProofAbsenceDo You KnowAncestorStandards Of LivingHigher Standards
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“The truth is that capitalism has not only multiplied population figures, but at the same time, improved the people's standard of living in an unprecedented way. Neither economic thinking nor historical experience suggests that any other social system could be as beneficial to the masses as capitalism. The results speak for themselves. The market economy needs no apologists and propagandists. It can apply to itself the words of Sir Christopher Wren's epitaph in St. Paul's: Si monumentum requires, circumspice.”

PeopleThinkingWayNeedsSpeakSocialResultsEconomyEconomicFiguresTruth IsMassStandardsCapitalismHistoricalPopulationBeneficialUnprecedentedStandards Of LivingEpitaphMarket EconomySocial SystemsPropagandistWrens
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“It is certain that many intellectuals envy the higher income of prosperous businessmen and that these feelings drive them toward socialism. They believe that the authorities of a socialist commonwealth would pay them higher salaries than those that they earn under capitalism.”

BelieveFeelingsCertainPayHigherAuthorityCapitalismEnvyIncomeSocialismSocialistBusinessmanProsperousSalaryCommonwealth
Book:Human action: a treatise on economics
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

“The characteristic feature of modern capitalism is mass production of goods destined for consumption by the masses. The result is a tendency towards a continuous improvement in the average standard of living, a progressing enrichment of the many.”

ResultsProgressModernMassStandardsCapitalismAverageProductionsImprovementTendenciesFeaturesCharacteristicsGoodsConsumptionDestinedStandards Of LivingContinuous ImprovementEnrichmentMass Production
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Under capitalism the common man enjoys amenities which in ages gone by were unknown and therefore inaccessible even to the richest people. But, of course, these motorcars, television sets and refrigerators do not make a man happy. In the instant in which he acquires them, he may feel happier than he did before. But as soon as some of his wishes are satisfied, new wishes spring up. Such is human nature.”

PeopleMenFeelsHumansMayAgeCoursesWishEnjoyCommonGoneHuman NatureTelevisionSpringCapitalismSatisfiedInstantAcquireCommon ManRefrigeratorsInaccessibleAmenities
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Capitalism and socialism are two distinct patterns of social organization. Private control of the means of production and public control are contradictory notions and not merely contrary notions. There is no such thing as a mixed economy, a system that would stand midway between capitalism and socialism.”

MeanTwoSocialEconomyCapitalismOrganizationNotionPatternsProductionsContrarySocialismContradictoryMidwaySocial OrganizationCapitalism And SocialismMixed Economy
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Capitalism means free enterprise, sovereignty of the consumers in economic matters, and sovereignty of the voters in political matters. Socialism means full government control of every sphere of the individuals life and the unrestricted supremacy of the government in its capacity as central board of production management.”

MeanMatterGovernmentPoliticalIndividualEconomicCapitalismCapacityManagementProductionsSocialismConsumersBoardsEnterpriseVotersSpheresSovereigntySupremacyFree Enterprise
Book:Bureaucracy
Create image

“A society that chooses between capitalism and socialism does not choose between two social systems; it chooses between social cooperation and the disintegration of society. Socialism is not an alternative to capitalism; it is an alternative to any system under which men can live as human beings.”

MenHumansDoeTwoSocialHuman BeingsCapitalismSocialismAlternativesCooperationSocial SystemsDisintegrationCapitalism And Socialism
Book:Human action: a treatise on economics
Create image

“The desire for an increase of wealth can be satisfied through exchange, which is the only method possible in a capitalist economy, or by violence and petition as in a militarist society, where the strong acquire by force, the weak by petitioning.”

DesireStrongForceWealthEconomyViolenceCapitalismWeakIncreaseMethodSatisfiedSocialismAcquireCapitalistPetitionsCapitalist Economy
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
Create image

“Liberalism and capitalism address themselves to the cool, well-balanced mind. They proceed by strict logic, eliminating any appeal to the emotions. Socialism, on the contrary, works on the emotions, tries to violate logical considerations by rousing a sense of personal interest and to stifle the voice of reason by awakening primitive instincts.”

TryingMindWellsReasonVoiceInterestEmotionLibertyEconomicCapitalismEconomicsLogicInstinctAwakeningContrarySocialismAppealsLiberalismAddressesConsiderationLogicalBalancedPrimitiveStrictEliminatingPersonal InterestVoice Of Reason
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
Create image

“The salesman thanks the customer for patronizing his shop and asks him to come again. But the socialists say: Be grateful to Hitler, render thanks to Stalin; be nice and submissive, then the great man will be kind to you later too.”

MenKindAsksNiceCapitalismGratefulCustomersSocialismThanksGreat MenShopsBe KindBeing NiceBe GratefulSalesmanSubmissivePatronizing
Book:Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War
Create image

“There is simply no other choice than this: either to abstain from interference in the free play of the market, or to delegate the entire management of production and distribution to the government. Either capitalism or socialism: there exists no middle way.”

WayPlayGovernmentChoicesMiddleCapitalismManagementProductionsSocialismDistributionInterferenceDelegatesMiddle WayFree Play
Book:The free and prosperous commonwealth: an exposition of the ideas of classical liberalism
Create image

“The recurrence of periods of depression and mass unemployment has discredited capitalism in the opinion of injudicious people. Yet these events are not the outcome of the operation of the free market. They are on the contrary the result of well-intentioned but ill-advised government interference with the market.”

PeopleWellsGovernmentResultsLibertyOpinionEconomicEventsPeriodsMassCapitalismEconomicsIllContraryOperationsOutcomesUnemploymentFree MarketInterferenceRecurrence
Book:Middle of the Road Policy Leads to Socialism
Create image

“The main propoganda trick of supporters of the allegedly "progressive" policy of government control is to blame capitalism for all that is unsatisfactory in present-day conditions and to extol the blessings of socialism. They have never attempted to prove their fallacious dogmas, all they did was to call their adversaries names and cast suspicion upon their motives. And, unfortunately, the average citizen cannot see through these stratagems. The liars must be afraid of the truth and are therefore driven to suppress its pronouncement.”

PhilosophyGovernmentPoliticalNamesConditionsPolicyCitizensBlessingProveCapitalismEconomicsBlameAverageCastsDrivenTricksSocialismMotiveLiarsProgressiveDogmaSuspicionSupporterAdversariesPresent DayStratagem
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Capitalism is essentially a system of mass production for the satisfaction of the needs of the masses. It pours a horn of plenty upon the common man. It has raised the average standard of living to a height never dreamed of in earlier ages. It has made accessible to millions of people enjoyments which a few generations ago were only within the reach of a small élite.”

PeopleMenNeedsMadeAgeCommonMillionsGenerationsMassStandardsCapitalismRaisedAverageSatisfactionProductionsPlentyHeightEnjoymentHornsStandards Of LivingCommon ManMass Production
Book:Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, The
Create image

“Many pioneers of these industrial changes, it is true, became rich. But they acquired their wealth by supplying the public with motor cars, airplanes, radio sets, refrigerators, moving and talking pictures, and variety of less spectacular but no less useful innovations. These new products were certainly not an achievement of offices and bureaucrats.”

MovingWealthTalkingRichCarProductsOfficeAchievementCapitalismInnovationRadioVarietyAirplaneSpectacularMotorPioneersBureaucratsRefrigeratorsNew ProductsMotor Cars
Book:Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War
Create image