Explore Freedom

Hugo Grotius

I saw in the whole Christian world a license of fighting at which even barbarous nations might blush. Wars were begun on trifling pretexts or none at all, and carried on without any reference of law, Divine or human. -- Hugo Grotius, Prolegomena to the Law of War and Peace Hugo Grotius 1583-1645 Oregon State University Hugo Grotius, ... [click for more]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Nothing is more revolting than the majority; for it consists of few vigorous predecessors, of knaves who accommodate themselves, of weak people who assimilate themselves, and the mass that toddles after them without knowing in the least what it wants. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe by Jane K. Brown WorldRoots.com Goethe on National Greatness by Hans-Hermann Hoppe Ludwig ... [click for more]

Percy L. Greaves

here is no longer a free market in jobs and wage rates. There are now laws on the statute books that grant certain groups of workers the privilege of demanding and getting higher wages than they could and would earn in a free market. The unemployed are no longer permitted to compete and thus reduce the higher than free ... [click for more]

Gottfried Haberler

The length and severity of depressions depend partly on the magnitude of the 'real' maladjustments, which developed during the preceding boom and partly on the aggravating monetary and credit conditions. -- Gottfried Haberler, Prosperity and Depression Biography of Gottfried Haberler (1901-1995) by Jospeh T. Salerno Ludwig von Mises Institute Biography of Gottfried Haberler by Jospeh T. Salerno History of Economic Thought [click for more]

John Hancock

The British ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double their reward. -- John Hancock, on signing The Declaration of Independence John Hancock (1737-1793) USHistory.org John Hancock (1737-1793) ColonialHall.com John Hancock: 1776 President of the Continental Congress JohnHancock.org John Hancock Wikipedia.org [click for more]

F.A. Harper

It seems that wherever the Welfare State is involved, the moral precept, "Thou shalt not steal," becomes altered to say: "Thou shalt not steal, except for what thou deemest to be a worthy cause, where thou thinkest that thou canst use the loot for a better purpose than wouldst the victim of the theft." -- F.A. Harper The Writings ... [click for more]

F.A. Hayek

Equality of the general rules of law and conduct, however, is the only kind of equality conducive to liberty and the only equality which we can secure without destroying liberty. Not only has liberty nothing to do with any other sort of equality, but it is even bound to produce inequality in many respects. This is the necessary result ... [click for more]

Henry Hazlitt

The bad economist sees only what immediately strikes the eye; the good economist also looks beyond. The bad economist sees only the direct consequences of a proposed course; the good economist looks also at the longer and indirect consequences. The bad economist sees only what the effect of a given policy has been or will be on one group; ... [click for more]

Patrick Henry

Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined. -- Patrick Henry Patrick Henry Short Biography RedHill.org Patrick Henry's Choice by Ben Moreell Future of Freedom Foundation Patrick Henry by David Dieteman LewRockwell.com Patrick Henry: Enemy of the State by ... [click for more]

Auberon Herbert

Do we wish to make men juster in their daily intercourse with each other? We shall certainly not succeed by acting more unjustly in return, for however unjustly a man may use the indirect power that he possesses, his injustice will always be surpassed by those who violate the universal rights of men by applying for force directly. -- Auberon ... [click for more]

Sam Houston

The great misfortune is that a notion obtains with those in power that the world, or the people, require more governing than is necessary. To govern well is a great science, but no country is ever improved by too much governing. Govern wisely and as little as possible! Most men think when they are elevated to position that it ... [click for more]

David Hume

The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy. -- David Hume David Hume Biography Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy My Own Life by David Hume McMaster University Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary by David Hume Library ... [click for more]

Francis Hutcheson

Wisdom denotes the pursuing of the best ends by the best means. -- Francis Hutcheson, An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue in Two Treatises Francis Hutcheson, 1694-1746 History of Economic Thought Francis Hutcheson: Philosopher and Teacher Ulster History Circle An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with ... [click for more]

W.H. Hutt

The two main conclusions suggested by this discussion are, first, that there has been a general tendency to exaggerate the "evils" which characterized the factory system before the abandonment of laissez faire and, second, that factory legislation was not essential to the ultimate disappearance of those "evils." Conditions which modern standards would condemn were then common to the community ... [click for more]

John Jay

It is too true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it; nay, absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, but for the purposes and objects merely personal, such as thirst for military glory, ... [click for more]

Thomas Jefferson

The essential principles of our Government ... form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone ... [click for more]

William Stanley Jevons

If, instead of welcoming inquiry and criticism, the admirers of a great author accept his writings as authoritative, both in their excellences and in their defects, the most serious injury is done to truth. In matters of philosophy and science, authority has ever been the great opponent of truth. A despotic calm is usually the triumph of error. In ... [click for more]

Bertrand de Jouvenel

hen we ask where liberty is, they refer us to the ballots in our hands; over the vast machine which keeps us in subjection we have this one right: we, the ten- or twenty-or thirty- millionth of the sovereign, lost in the vast crowd of our fellows, can on occasion take a hand in setting the machine in motion. ... [click for more]

Israel M. Kirzner

Only in a society where entrepreneurs are free to make errors, can we expect an outpouring of entrepreneurship to lift its economy to new, hitherto unglimpsed, heights of prosperity. Only where potential entrepreneurs are free to follow the lure of profits as they see them, will there be the unleashing of entrepreneurial vision, daring, and judgment that creates profits ... [click for more]

Frank H. Knight

Market competition is the only form of organization which can afford a large measure of freedom to the individual. -- Frank H. Knight, Freedom and Reform Frank H. Knight, 1885-1972 History of Economic Thought Frank Hyneman Knight (1885-1972) Library of Economics and Liberty Frank Knight's Mixed Legacy by David Gordon Ludwig von Mises Institute Risk, Uncertainty, and Profit by ... [click for more]