Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian School economist, historian, and sociologist. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the societal contributions of classical liberalism. He is best known for his work on praxeology, a study of human choice and action. This Ludwig von Mises quotes will motivate you.
Best Ludwig von Mises Quotes
- Every socialist is a disguised dictator. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty. They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship. They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent. They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Every man but one a subordinate clerk in a bureau. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- He who is unfit to serve his fellow citizens wants to rule them. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Socialism is not in the least what it pretends to be. It is not the pioneer of a better and finer world, but the spoiler of what thousands of years of civilization have created. It does not build, it destroys. For destruction is the essence of it. It produces nothing, it only consumes what the social order based on private ownership in the means of production has created. ~ Ludwig von Mises, Ludwig von Mises quotes on socialism
- The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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Liberty is always freedom from the government. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Depressions and mass unemployment are not caused by the free market but by government interference in the economy. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Innovators and creative geniuses cannot be reared in schools. They are precisely the men who defy what the school has taught them. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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 inflicted by governments. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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The first thing a genius needs is to breathe free air. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The struggle for freedom is ultimately not resistance to autocrats or oligarchs but resistance to the despotism of public opinion. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Some think that they will exercise power for the general good, but that is what all those with power have believed. Power is evil in itself, regardless of who exercises it. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- State interference in economic life, which calls itself economic policy, has done nothing but destroy economic life. Prohibitions and regulations have by their general obstructive tendency fostered the growth of the spirit of wastefulness. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The main political problem is how to prevent the police power from becoming tyrannical. This is the meaning of all the struggles for liberty. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- What generates war is the economic philosophy of nationalism: embargoes, trade, and foreign exchange controls, monetary devaluation, etc. The philosophy of protectionism is a philosophy of war. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Changes in human conditions are brought about by the pioneering of the cleverest and most energetic men. They take the lead and the rest of mankind follows them little by little. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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The mark of the creative mind is that it defies a part of what it has learned. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The standard of living of the common man is higher in those countries which have the greatest number of wealthy entrepreneurs. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- If you increase the quantity of money, you bring about the lowering of the purchasing power of the monetary unit. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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A higher standard of living also brings about a higher standard of culture and civilization. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom is the corollary of economic freedom. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- It is certain that many intellectuals envy the higher income of prosperous businessmen and that these feelings drive them toward socialism. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- They believe that the authorities of a socialist commonwealth would pay them higher salaries than those that they earn under capitalism. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Economic progress is the work of the savers, who accumulate capital, and of the entrepreneurs, who turn capital to new uses. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The philosophy underlying the system of progressive taxation is that the income and wealth of the well-to-do classes can be freely tapped. What the advocates of these tax rates fail to realize is that the greater part of the incomes taxed away would not have been consumed but saved and invested. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The truth is that the government cannot give if it does not take from somebody…It is not in the power of the government to make everybody more prosperous. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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 undermines peace, freedom, and liberty. Know that every breath is a miracle and every moment a blessing and you will achieve your dreams. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Planning other people’s actions means to prevent them from planning for themselves, means to deprive them of their essential human quality, means enslaving them. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Economics must not be relegated to classrooms and statistical offices and must not be left to esoteric circles. It is the philosophy of human life and action and concerns everybody and everything. It is the pith of civilization and of man’s human existence. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The real bosses, in the capitalist system of the market economy, are the consumers. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The characteristic feature of a free society is that it can function in spite of the fact that its members disagree in many judgments of value. Freedom really means the freedom to make mistakes. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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Depression is the aftermath of credit expansion. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Freedom is indivisible. As soon as one starts to restrict it, one enters upon a decline on which it is difficult to stop. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Society cannot contribute anything to the breeding and growing of ingenious men. A creative genius cannot be trained. There are no schools for creativeness. A genius is precisely a man who defies all schools and rules, who deviates from the traditional roads of routine and opens up new paths through land inaccessible before. A genius is always a teacher, never a pupil; he is always self-made. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- If one rejects laissez faire on account of man’s fallibility and moral weakness, one must for the same reason also reject every kind of government action. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other benefits from the treasury, democracy is done for. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- What mankind needs today is liberation from the rule of nonsensical slogans and a return to sound reasoning. ~ Ludwig von Mises
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Progress is precisely that which rules and regulations did not foresee. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- German Marxian’s coined the dictum: If socialism is against human nature, then human nature must be changed. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- 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. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The concept of a ‘just’ or ‘fair’ price is devoid of any scientific meaning; it is a disguise for wishes, a striving for a state of affairs different from reality. ~ Ludwig von Mises Quotes
- Government is the only institution that can take a valuable commodity like paper, and make it worthless by applying ink. ~ Ludwig von Mises
- The history of mankind is the history of ideas. For it is ideas, theories, and doctrines that guide human action, determine the ultimate ends men aim at, and the choice of the means employed for the attainment of these ends. ~ Ludwig von Mises