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Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises Quotes

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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
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“The prevailing legal and moral views of a time are held not only by those whom they benefit but by those, too, who appear to suffer from them. Their domination is expressed in that fact- that the people from whom they claim sacrifice accept them.”

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Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
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“Permanent mass unemployment destroys the moral foundations of the social order. The young people, who, having finished their training for work, are forced to remain idle, are the ferment out of which the most radical political movements are formed. In their ranks the soldiers of the coming revolutions are recruited.”

PeopleYoungPoliticalOrderSocialMoralMovementRevolutionMassTrainingFoundationSoldierFinishedRadicalPermanentIdleUnemploymentSocial OrderPolitical Movements
Book:Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist
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“What people today call inflation is not inflation, i.e., the increase in the quantity of money and money substitutes, but the general rise in commodity prices and wage rates which is the inevitable consequence of inflation.”

PeopleTodayConsequenceIncreaseRateInvestingInevitableSubstitutesQuantityCommodityInflationCommodity Prices
Book:Planning for freedom, and twelve other essays and addresses
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“There is no means by which anyone can evade his personal responsibility. Whoever neglects to examine to the best of his abilities all the problems involved voluntarily surrenders his birthright to a selfappointed elite of supermen. In such vital matters blind reliance upon 'experts' and uncritical acceptance of popular catchwords and prejudices is tantamount to the abandonment of self-determination and to yielding to other people's domination. As conditions are today, nothing can be more important to every intelligent man than economics. His own fate and that of his progeny are at stake.”

PeopleMenMeanImportantSelfMatterProblemTodayAbilityResponsibilityFateConditionsAcceptanceInvolvedDeterminationEconomicsPrejudiceIntelligentBlindInvestingSurrenderExpertsNeglectStakesElitesSelf DeterminationDominationRelianceAbandonmentPersonal ResponsibilityBirthrightIntelligent ManProgeny
Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“A new type of superstition has got hold of people's minds, the worship of the state. People demand the exercise of the methods of coercion and compulsion, of violence and threat. Woe to anybody who does not bend his knee to the fashionable idols!”

PeopleMindDoeStatesViolenceTypeExerciseDemandWorshipMethodThreatKneesIdolsSuperstitionsWoeCompulsionCoercionFashionable
Book:Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War
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“An anti-something movement displays a purely negative attitude. It has no chance whatever to succeed. Its passionate diatribes virtually advertise the program they attack. People must fight for something that they want to achieve, not simply reject an evil, however bad it may be.”

PeopleWantMayFightingEvilChanceAttitudeAchieveMovementSucceedNegativeProgramPassionateRejectsDisplayNegative Attitude
Book:Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, The
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“Public opinion takes no offense at the endeavors of farmers, workers, clerks, teachers, doctors, ministers, and people from many other callings to earn as much as they can. But it censures the capitalists and entrepreneurs for their greed.”

PeopleOpinionTeacherCallingDoctorsEntrepreneurWorkersGreedMinistersEndeavorFarmersCapitalistOffensePublic OpinionClerksCensure
Book:Planning for freedom, and sixteen other essays and addresses
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“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
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“The direction of all economic affairs is in the market society a task of the entrepreneurs. Theirs is the control of production. They are at the helm and steer the ship. A superficial observer would believe that they are supreme. But they are not. They are bound to obey unconditionally the captain's orders.”

PeopleShouldBelieveOrderPoorQualityLibertyRichEconomicEconomicsTasksEntrepreneurBoundsAffairDetermineProductionsSupremeShipsConsumersQuantityCaptainsSuperficialPoor PeopleObserversRich PeopleSteersHelm
Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“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
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“The state is essentially an apparatus of compulsion and coercion. The characteristic feature of its activities is to compel people through the application or the threat of force to behave otherwise than they would like to behave.”

PeopleStatesForceLibertyActivityThreatLibertarianFeaturesBehaveCharacteristicsApplicationLibertarianismCompulsionCoercion
Book:Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War
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“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
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“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
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“The capitalistic social order, therefore, is an economic democracy in the strictest sense of the word. In the last analysis, all decisions are dependent on the will of the people as consumers. Thus, whenever there is a conflict between the consumers' views and those of the business managers, market pressures assure that the views of the consumers win out eventually.”

PeopleLastsOrderWinningSocialDecisionViewsDemocracyEconomicConflictCapitalismPressureManagersConsumersAnalysisDependentSocial Order
Book:On the Manipulation of Money and Credit
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“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
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“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
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“It is not the fault of the entrepreneurs that the consumers,the people, the common man,prefer liquor to Bibles and detective stories to serious books, and that governments prefer guns to butter. The entrepreneur does not make greater profits in selling bad things than in selling good things. His profits are the greater the better he succeeds in providing the consumers with those things they ask for most intensely.”

PeopleMenDoeBookStoriesGovernmentAsksCommonGreaterSeriousSucceedGunEntrepreneurGood ThingsFaultsProfitSellingConsumersBad ThingsProvidingDetectivesLiquorCommon ManDetective Stories
Book:Human action: a treatise on economics
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“People must learn that the accumulation of wealth by the successful conduct of business is the corollary of the improvement of their own standard of living and vice versa. They must realize that bigness in business is not an evil, but both the cause and effect of the fact that they themselves enjoy all those amenities whose enjoyment is called the “American way of life.”

PeopleWayFactsEvilCausesEnjoyRealizingWealthSuccessfulEffectsStandardsVicesImprovementEnjoymentAccumulationVice VersaCause And EffectStandards Of LivingAmenitiesAmerican Way Of Life
Book:Economic freedom and interventionism: an anthology of articles and essays
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“It is true that some secluded intellectuals in their esoteric circles talk differently. They proclaim the priority of what they call eternal absolute values and feign in their declamations—not in their personal conduct—a disdain of things secular and transitory. But the public ignores such utterances. The main goal of present-day political action is to secure for the respective pressure group memberships the highest material well-being. The only way for a leader to succeed is to instill in people the conviction that his program best serves the attainment of this goal.”

PeopleWayWellsActionPoliticalValuesGoalLeaderGroupsMaterialsSucceedEternalHighestProgramAbsolutesPressureConvictionPrioritiesCirclesSecureWell BeingSecularAttainmentPresent DayDisdainUtteranceMembershipInstillEsotericTransitoryPolitical ActionSecludedDeclamationPressure Groups
Book:Human action: a treatise on economics
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“Man is born an asocial and antisocial being. The newborn child is a savage. Egoism is his nature. Only the experience of life and the teachings of his parents, his brothers, sisters, playmates, and later of other people FORCE HIM to acknowledge the advantages of social cooperation and accordingly to change his behavior.”

PeopleMenChildrenForceSocialParentBornTeachingBrotherBehaviorAdvantageAcknowledgeCooperationSavagesEgoismNewbornAntisocialBrother SisterNewborn Child
Author:Ludwig von Mises
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“People do not cooperate under the division of labor because they love or should love one another. They cooperate because this best serves their own interests. Neither love nor charity nor any other sympathetic sentiments but rightly understood selfishness is what originally impelled man to adjust himself to the requirements of society, to respect the rights and freedoms of his fellow men and to substitute peaceful collaboration for enmity and conflict.”

PeopleMenShouldInterestRightsConflictUnderstoodLaborFellowsCharityPeacefulSelfishnessDivisionSentimentsSubstitutesCollaborationRequirementsFellow ManSympatheticLove One AnotherEnmityRights And FreedomsDivision Of Labor
Book:Human Action
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“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
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