Ludwig von Mises

It is the consumers who make poor people rich and rich people poor.

In a battle between force and an idea, the latter always prevails.

Against what is stupid, nonsensical, erroneous, and evil, [classical] liberalism fights with the weapons of the mind, and not with brute force and repression.

Used to the conditions of a capitalistic environment, the average American takes it for granted that every year business makes something new and better accessible to him. Looking backward upon the years of his own life, he realizes that many implements that were totally unknown in the days of his youth and many others which at that time could be enjoyed only by a small minority are now standard equipment of almost every household. He is fully confident that this trend will prevail also in the future. He simply calls it the American way of life and does not give serious thought to the question of what made this continuous improvement in the supply of material goods possible.

If one prevents a man from working for the good of society while at the same time providing for the satisfaction of his own needs, then only one way remains open to him: to make himself richer and others poorer by the violent oppression and spoliation of his fellow men.

The worship of the state is the worship of force. There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men. The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were in_cted by bad governments. The state can be and has often been in the course of history the main source of mischief and disaster.

Science does not give us absolute and final certainty. It only gives us assurance within the limits of our mental abilities and the prevailing state of scientific thought.

The biological equipment of a man rigidly restricts the field in which he can serve.

Society has arisen out of the works of peace the essence of society is peacemaking.

Modern society, based as it is on the division of labor, can be preserved only under conditions of lasting peace.

The attainment of the economic aims of man presupposes peace.

Peace and not war is the father of all things.

Whoever wishes peace among peoples must fight statism.

The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.

Economically considered, war and revolution are always bad business.

Whoever wants peace among nations must seek to limit the state and its influence most strictly.

The state can be and has often been in the course of history the main source of mischief and disaster.

If some peoples pretend that history or geography gives them the right to subjugate other races, nations, or peoples, there can be no peace.