Quotessence
Home / Authors / Ludwig von Mises
Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenGovernmentEconomicLibertyCapitalismEconomicsPeopleIfsSocialismMeanProductionsStatesWarEconomyActionLibertarianSocialFreedomConsumersHumans

Famous Ludwig von Mises Quotes

“Economics is a theoretical science and as such abstains from any judgement of value. It is not its task to tell people what ends they should aim at. It is a science of the means to be applied for attainment of ends chosen, not, to be sure, a science of the choosing of ends. Ultimate decisions, the valuations and the choosing of ends, are beyond the scope of any science. Science never tells a man how he should act; it merely shows how a man must act if he wants to attain definite ends.”

PeopleIfsMenWantShouldMeanEndsShowsValuesDecisionEconomicsTasksUltimateAimChosenJudgementDefiniteScopeTheoreticalAttainmentValuation
Book:Human Action
Create image

“Violent resistance against the power of the state is the last resort of the minority in its effort to break loose from the oppression of the majority. ... The citizen must not be so narrowly circumscribed in his activities that, if he thinks differently from those in power, his only choice is either to perish or to destroy the machinery of state.”

IfsThinkingStatesLastsChoicesEffortBreakDemocracyViolenceCitizensActivityEconomicsMajorityViolentResistanceOppressionMinoritiesMachineryResorts
Book:The free and prosperous commonwealth: an exposition of the ideas of classical liberalism
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

“You have the courage to tell the masses what no politician told them: you are inferior and all the improvements in your conditions which you simply take for granted you owe to the effort of men who are better than you. If this be arrogance, as some of your critics observed, it is still the truth that had to said in the age of the Welfare State.”

IfsMenSaidStillsStatesAgeEffortConditionsPoliticianMassCriticsImprovementGrantedWelfareArroganceInferiorsBetter Than YouWelfare State
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“If one takes pleasure in calling the gold standard a "barbarous relic," one cannot object to the application of the same term to every historically determined institution. Then the fact that the British speak English - and not Danish, German, or French - is a barbarous relic too, and every Briton who opposes the substitution of Esperanto for English is no less dogmatic and orthodox than those who do not wax rapturous about the plans for a managed currency.”

IfsFactsSpeakTermPleasurePlansObjectsCallingStandardsGoldInstitutionsBritishDeterminedOrthodoxApplicationCurrencyDogmaticRelicsSpeak EnglishSubstitutionDanishGold StandardBritonsEsperanto
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“If history could prove and teach us anything, it would be the private ownership of the means of production as a necessary requisite of civilization and material well-being. All civilizations have up to now been based on private property. Only nations committed to the principle of private property have risen above penury and produced science, art, and literature. There is no experience to show that any other social system could provide mankind with any of the achievements of civilization.”

IfsWellsMeanArtShowsWisdomWould BeLiteraturePoliticsNationsSocialPrinciplesTeachEconomyMankindMaterialsCivilizationProveAchievementPropertyCommittedProductionsWell BeingLiberalismOwnershipRisenPrivate PropertySocial Systems
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Once public opinion is convinced that the increase in the quantity of money will continue and never come to an end, and that consequently the prices of all commodities will not cease to rise, everybody becomes eager to buy as much as possible and restrict his cash holdings to minimum size... If the credit expansion is not stopped in time, the boom turns to crack-up boom: the flight into real values begins, and the whole monetary system founders.”

IfsRealEndsWholeValuesTurnsOpinionIncreaseInvestingSizeCreditConvincedCeaseFlightCracksCashQuantityFoundersMinimumExpansionCommodityPublic OpinionMonetaryReal ValueMonetary System
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“Government means always coercion and compulsion and is by necessity the opposite of liberty. Government is a guarantor of liberty and is compatible with liberty only if its range is adequately restricted to the preservation of economic freedom. Where there is no market economy, the best-intentioned provisions of constitutions and laws remain a dead letter.”

IfsMeanGovernmentLawLibertyEconomyEconomicLettersOppositesConstitutionInvestingRangePreservationCompulsionProvisionCoercionCompatibleMarket EconomyEconomic Freedom
Book:Economic freedom and interventionism: an anthology of articles and essays
Create image

“As society is only possible if everyone, while living his own life, at the same time helps others to live; if every individual is simultaneously means and end; if each individual's well-being is simultaneously the condition necessary to the well-being of others, it is evident that the contrast between I and thou, means and end, automatically is overcome.”

IfsWellsMeanEndsHelpingIndividualConditionsOvercomingHelping OthersWell BeingContrastEvident
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
Create image

“If the present American laws concerning the taxation of the profits of corporations, the incomes of individuals, and inheritances had been introduced about 60 years ago, all those new products whose consumption has raised the standard of living of the 'common man' would either not be produced at all or only in small quantities for the benefit of a minority. The Ford enterprises would not exist if Henry Ford's profits had been taxed away as soon as they came into being.”

IfsMenYearsLawIndividualCommonProductsBenefitsStandardsYears AgoRaisedProfitIncomeCorporationsEnterpriseMinoritiesQuantityConsumptionTaxationInheritanceStandards Of LivingCommon ManNew ProductsAmerican Law
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“If the present tax rates had been in effect from the beginning of our century, many who are millionaires today would live under more modest circumstances. But all those new branches of industry which supply the masses with articles unheard of before, would operate, if at all, on a much smaller scale, and their products would be beyond the reach of the common man.”

IfsMenWould BeTodayCommonEffectsCenturyProductsIndustryCircumstancesTaxesMassRateScalesBranchesArticlesModestMillionaireCommon ManUnheard
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

“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

“In a game there are winners and losers. But a business deal is always advantageous for both parties. If both the buyer and the seller were not to consider the transaction as the most advantageous action they could choose under the prevailing conditions, they would not enter into the deal.”

IfsActionGamesDealsPartyConditionsWinnerLoserTransactionsPrevailingSellersBuyersWinner And LoserBusiness Deals
Book:The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science: An Essay on Method
Create image

“He who accepts life for what it is and never allows himself to be overwhelmed by it does not need to seek refuge for his crushed self-confidence in the solace of a 'saving lie'. If the longed-for success is not forthcoming, if the vicissitudes of fate destroy in the twinkling of an eye what had to be painstakingly built up by years of hard work, then he simply multiplies his exertions. He can look disaster in the eye without despairing.”

IfsNeedsYearsLooksDoeSelfHardEyeLyingAcceptingFateHard WorkBuiltSelf ConfidenceDisasterSavingRefugeOverwhelmedCrushedSolaceExertionTwinklingVicissitudesForthcoming
Book:The free and prosperous commonwealth: an exposition of the ideas of classical liberalism
Create image

“Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping toward destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interest of everyone hangs on the result. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the great historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us.”

IfsMenWayInterestResultsResponsibilityStruggleShareBattleSafeIntellectualDestructionHistoricalLibertarianEvery ManShouldersCarrieThrustRelievedSweepingEpochGreat LibertarianGreat Historical
Book:Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses
Create image

“To the grumbler who complains about the unfairness of the market system only one piece of advice can be given: If you want to acquire wealth, then try to satisfy the public by offering them something that is cheaper or which they like better....Equality under the law gives you the power to challenge every millionaire.”

IfsWantGivingTryingLawGivenChallengesWealthLibertyPiecesEconomicAdviceEconomicsComplainingAcquireOfferingMillionaireCheaperOne PieceUnfairnessEquality Under The Law
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image

“The interventionists do not approach the study of economic matters with scientific disinterestedness. Most of them are driven by an envious resentment against those whose incomes are larger than their own. This bias makes it impossible for them to see things as they really are. For them the main thing is not to improve the conditions of the masses, but to harm the entrepreneurs and capitalists even if this policy victimizes the immense majority of the people.”

PeopleIfsMatterLibertyStudyImpossibleEconomicConditionsPolicyApproachMassEconomicsMajorityEntrepreneurHarmDrivenIncomeCapitalistResentmentImmenseBiasEnvious
Book:Planned Chaos
Create image

“The capitalist system of production is an economic democracy in which every penny gives a right to vote. The consumers are the sovereign people. The capitalists, the entrepreneurs, and the farmers are the people's mandatories. If they do not obey, if they fail to produce, at the lowest possible cost, what”

PeopleIfsGivingDemocracyFailingEconomicProduceCostCapitalismVoteEntrepreneurProductionsConsumersFarmersCapitalistSovereignLowestPenniesRight To Vote
Book:Bureaucracy
Create image

“If you give the government the right to determine the consumption of the human body, to determine whether one should smoke or not smoke, drink or not drink, there is no good reply you can give to people who say, More important than the body is the mind and the soul, and man hurts himself much more by reading bad books, by listening to bad music and looking at bad movies. Therefore it is the duty of the government to prevent people from committing those faults. And, as you know, for many hundreds of years governments and authorities velieved that it was their duty.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMenGivingShouldYearsMindHumansImportantBookSoulBodyGovernmentReadingHurtFreedomDutyListeningMoralityDrinkAuthorityFaultsDetermineSmokeConsumptionHuman BodyBad MoviesBad Music
Book:Economic Policy: Thoughts for Today and Tomorrow
Create image

“If we live our lives as a gift it is possible to reach a blissful state of eternal happiness. It is those who live their life with a sense of entitlement that undermine peace , freedom and liberty. Know that every breath is a miracle and every moment a blessing and you will achieve your dreams. Planning other people's actions means to prevent them from planning for themselves, means to deprive them of their essentially human quality, means enslaving them.”

PeopleIfsKnowsHumansMeanStatesMomentsDreamActionQualityLibertyOur LivesAchieveBlessingEternalMiracleBreathsPlanningYour DreamsEntitlementFreedom And LibertyHuman QualitiesEternal HappinessAchieving Your DreamsSense Of EntitlementOther People's Actions
Author:Ludwig von Mises
Create image