Friedrich Hayek

"The prosperity we enjoy is the product not of planning but of millions of uncoordinated decisions."

"Envy, far more than greed, is the driving force behind demands for economic redistribution."

"A system that depends on the intelligence of any particular class of officials is one that is likely to fail."

"The worst form of tyranny is the tyranny of the majority, especially when it uses democratic mechanisms."

"Knowledge of the particular is what drives markets, not knowledge of the general."

"Nobody can wish to live in a society where every transaction is authorized by a central planner."

"The distinction between legitimate law and arbitrary power lies in adherence to principle, not in the democratic process itself."

"Human beings are remarkably adaptable; our weakness is that we adapt to servitude as easily as to freedom."

"Words such as 'planned economy' are deceptive; they suggest a rational order that has never been achieved."

"The great insight of the market is that you don't need to know or trust the other person; the system ensures fairness."

"Those who have looked at matters with any degree of seriousness know that political change almost always lags economic change."

"To protect freedom, we must protect the space where people can make mistakes without catastrophic consequences."

"The welfare state rests on the assumption that we know better how to spend other people's money than they do."

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire and the method to pass it on."

"The measure of a society is how it treats those with whom it disagrees."

"Economic theory tells us that when you make something costly, people use less of it."

"The greatest productivity comes from allowing people to specialize in what they do best."

"What appears as mere tradition often embodies knowledge we do not yet understand consciously."

"An open society requires constant effort to maintain, whereas tyranny merely requires apathy."

"The attempt to enforce equality destroys the conditions necessary for the flourishing of human diversity."

"Those who promise to deliver certainty are almost certainly delivering deception."

"The beauty of a free market is that it allows millions of people with different values and beliefs to cooperate."

"Intervention in markets creates new problems that require further interventions, leading to ever-greater control."

"The man who lets himself be convinced that he can organize society is on the path to tyranny."

"Wealth is not created by politicians; it emerges from voluntary exchange and competitive innovation."

"The reason free societies are stable is that they provide peaceful channels for change."

"When an individual is allowed to keep the fruits of his labor, he is incentivized to produce more."

"The evolution of a complex system cannot be directed by any single intelligence."

"Those who complain about market inequality often do not realize that they are complaining about freedom."

"Rules that are universally applicable, impersonally administered, and known in advance are the hallmark of justice."