The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act read more

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with read more

An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. - Beyond the Horizon, 1942.

Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.

Bad politicians are sent to Washington by good people who don't vote.

I'm the lamest lame duck there could be.

I'm the lamest lame duck there could be.

The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is read more

The most successful career must show a waste of strength that might have removed mountains, and the most unsuccessful is not that of the man who is taken unprepared, but of him who has prepared and is never taken. On a tragedy of that kind our national morality is duly silent.

The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That's one of these lies in society that no free and read more

The majority is never right. Never, I tell you! That's one of these lies in society that no free and intelligent man can help rebelling against. Who are the people that make up the biggest proportion of the population -- the intelligent ones or the fools? I think we can agree it's the fools, no matter where you go in this world, it's the fools that form the overwhelming majority.

...if we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular read more

...if we wish to preserve a free society, it is essential that we recognize that the desirability of a particular object is not sufficient justification for the use of coercion.

The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.

The soil of their native land is dear to all the hearts of mankind.

The positive testimony of history is that the State invariably had its origin in conquest and confiscation. No primitive State read more

The positive testimony of history is that the State invariably had its origin in conquest and confiscation. No primitive State known to history originated in any other manner.