F.a. Hayek ( 10 of 33 )
It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In read more
It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In the process by which opinion is formed, it is very probable that, by the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point which the majority have reached. It is because we do not yet which of the many competing new opinions will prove itself the best that we wait until it has gained sufficient support.
...the ultimate decision about what is accepted as right and wrong will be made not by individual human wisdom but read more
...the ultimate decision about what is accepted as right and wrong will be made not by individual human wisdom but by the disappearance of the groups that have adhered to the "wrong" beliefs.
...it is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in read more
...it is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in the end learns to do better.
This is the constitutional limitation of man's knowledge and interests, the fact that he cannot know more than a tiny read more
This is the constitutional limitation of man's knowledge and interests, the fact that he cannot know more than a tiny part of the whole of society and that therefore all that can enter into his motives are the immediate effects which his actions will have in the sphere he knows.
Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of read more
Every change in conditions will make necessary some change in the use of resources, in the direction and kind of human activities, in habits and practices. And each change in the actions of those affected in the first instance will require further adjustments that will gradually extend through the whole of society. Every change thus in a sense creates a "problem" for society, even though no single individual perceives it as such; it is gradually "solved" by the establishment of a new overall adjustment.
Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation read more
Perhaps the fact that we have seen millions voting themselves into complete dependence on a tyrant has made our generation understand that to choose one's government is not necessarily to secure freedom.
From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be read more
From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be inequality in their actual position, and that the only way to place them in an equal position would be to treat them differently. Equality before the law and material equality are therefore not only different but are in conflict which each other; and we can achieve either one or the other, but not both at the same time.
There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.
There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally and attempting to make them equal.
...whenever it is necessary that one of several conflicting opinions should prevail and when one would have to be made read more
...whenever it is necessary that one of several conflicting opinions should prevail and when one would have to be made to prevail by force if need be, it is less wasteful to determine which has the stronger support by counting numbers than by fighting. Democracy is the only method of peaceful change that man has yet been discovered.
A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow read more
A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.
