We must face the fact that the preservation of individual freedom is incompatible with a full satisfaction of our views of distributive justice. Friedrich August von Hayek More Quotes by Friedrich August von Hayek More Quotes From Friedrich August von Hayek In no other field has the world yet paid so dearly for the abandonment of nineteenth-century liberalism as in the field where the retreat began: in international relations. Yet only a small part of the lesson which experience ought to have taught us has been learned. Friedrich August von Hayek taught-us lessons world I can have little patience with those who oppose ... the theory of evolution or what are called "mechanistic" explanations of the phenomena of life because of certain moral consequences which at first seem to follow from these theories, and still less with those who regard it as irrelevant or impious to ask certain questions at all. By refusing to face the facts , the conservative only weakens his own position. Friedrich August von Hayek theory-of-evolution faces littles In any society freedom of thought will probably be of direct significance for a small minority. But this does not mean that anyone is competent, or ought to have power, to select those to whom this freedom is to be reserved. Friedrich August von Hayek minorities doe mean It can hardly be denied that such a demand quite arbitrarily limits the facts which are to be admitted as possible causes of the events which occur in the real world. Friedrich August von Hayek causes limits real Liberty'''.that condition of man in which coercion of some by others is reduced as much as possible in society Friedrich August von Hayek liberty coercion men Though freedom and wealth are both good things which most of us desire and though we often need both to obtain what we wish, they still remain different. Whether or not I am my own master and can follow my own choice and whether the possibilities from which I must choose are many or few are two entirely different questions. The courtier living in the lap of luxury but at the beck and call of his prince may be much less free than a poor peasant or artisan, less able to live his own life and to choose his own opportunities for usefulness. Friedrich August von Hayek luxury opportunity two The task of the political philosopher can only be to influence public opinion, not to organize people for action. He will do so effectively only if he is not concerned with what is now politically possible but consistently defends the "general principles which are always the same." In this sense I doubt whether there can be such a thing as a conservative political philosophy. Conservatism may often be a useful practical maxim, but it does not give us any guiding principles which can influence long-range developments. Friedrich August von Hayek guiding-principles often-is philosophy It is of the essence of the demand for equality before the law that people should be treated alike in spite of the fact that they are different. Friedrich August von Hayek essence law people That there is little hope of international order or lasting peace so long as every country is free to employ whatever measures it thinks desirable in its own immediate interest, however damaging they may be to others, needs little emphasis now. Friedrich August von Hayek order country thinking Once politics become a tug-of-war for shares in the income pie, decent government is impossible. Friedrich August von Hayek pie government war The freedom that will be used by only one man in a million may be more important to society and more beneficial to the majority than any freedom that we all use. Friedrich August von Hayek majority important men Competition means decentralized planning by many separate persons. Friedrich August von Hayek entrepreneur competition mean When it becomes dominated by a collectivist creed, democracy will inevitably destroy itself. Friedrich August von Hayek democracy politics power By the age of fifteen, I had convinced myself that nobody could give a reasonable explanation of what he meant by the word 'God' and that it was therefore as meaningless to assert a belief as to assert a disbelief in God. Though this, in a general way, has remained my position ever since, I have always avoided unnecessarily to offend other people holding religious belief by displaying my lack of such belief, or even stating my lack of belief, if I was not challenged. Friedrich August von Hayek religious giving people I am still puzzled why those in the United States who truly believe in liberty should not only have allowed the left to appropriate this almost indispensable term but should even have assisted by beginning to use it themselves as a term of opprobrium. This seems to be particularly regrettable because of the consequent tendency of many true liberals to describe themselves as conservatives. Friedrich August von Hayek united-states liberty believe ..where effective competition can be created, it is a better way of guiding individual efforts than any other... regards competition as superior not only because it is in most circumstances the most efficient method known but even more because it is the only method by which our activities can be adjusted to each other without coercive or arbitrary intervention of authority. Friedrich August von Hayek individual-effort arbitrary competition The credit which the apparent conformity with recognized scientific standards can gain for seemingly simple but false theories may, as the present instance shows, have grave consequences. Friedrich August von Hayek gains simple may The conservatives have already accepted a large part of the collectivist creed-a creed that has governed policy for so long that many of its institutions have come to be accepted as a matter of course and have become a source of pride to "conservative" parties who created them. Here the believer in freedom cannot but conflict with the conservative and take an essentially radical position, directed against popular prejudices, entrenched positions, and firmly established privileges. Follies and abuses are no better for having long been established principles of folly. Friedrich August von Hayek party pride long The effect of the people's agreeing that there must be central planning, without agreeing on the ends, will be rather as if a group of people were to commit themselves to take a journey together without agreeing where they want to go; with the result that they may all have to make a journey which most of them do not want at all. Friedrich August von Hayek journey together people There exists no third principle for the organisation of the economics process which can be rationally chosen to achieve any desirable ends, in addition to either a functioning market in which nobody can conclusively determine how well-off particular groups or individuals will be, or a central direction where a group organised for power determines it. Friedrich August von Hayek economics groups principles
