Category: Thought

[I]t is more disgraceful for a king to tell lies than for anyone else.

Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander.

Legal plunder has two roots: One of them . . . is in human greed; the other is in misconceived philanthropy.

Frédéric Bastiat, The Law (1850).

It is often sadly remarked that the bad economists present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. It is often complained that demagogues can be more plausible in putting forward economic nonsense from the platform than the honest men who try to show what is wrong with it. But the basic reason for this ought not to be mysterious. The reason is that the demagogues and bad economists are presenting half-truths. They are speaking only of the immediate effect of a proposed policy or its effect upon a single group. 

Henry Hazlitt, Economics in One Lesson (1946), “The Lesson,” Chapter 1.

We should view our government the way we should a friendly, cuddly lion. Just because he’s friendly and cuddly shouldn’t blind us to the fact that he’s still got teeth and claws.

Walter E. Williams, Conservative Chronicle (August 30, 1995).

But let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you — and why?

Walter E. Williams, All It Takes Is Guts (1987).

Demand and supply are terms related in a peculiar manner. A commodity which is supplied, is always, at the same time, a commodity which is the instrument of demand. A commodity which is the instrument of demand, is always, at the same time, a commodity added to the stock of supply. Every commodity is always, at one and the same time, matter of demand, and matter of supply. Of two men who perform an exchange, the one does not come with only a supply, the other with only a demand; each of them comes with both a demand and a supply. The supply, which he brings, is the instrument of his demand; and his demand and supply are of course exactly equal to one another.

James Mill, Elements of Political Economy (1821; 1844), Chapter 4, “Consumption” Section III, “That Consumption Is Co-Extensive With Production.”

I care not how affluent some may be, provided that none be miserable in consequence of it.

Thomas Paine, Agrarian Justice (1797).

When it is useful to them, men can believe a theory of which they know nothing more than its name.

Vilfredo Pareto, Manual of Political Economy (1927-1927), p. 94.

The distinction, between what is done by labour, and what is done by nature, is not always observed. 
Labour produces its effects only by conspiring with the laws of nature. 
It is found that the agency of man can be traced to very simple elements. He does nothing but produce motion. He can move things towards one another, and he can separate them from one another. The properties of matter perform the rest.

James Mill, Elements of Political Economy (1821; 1844), Chapter 1, “Production.”

For those of you who still think that we’ve gotten little green men underground somewhere, one of the things you learn as president is the government is terrible at keeping secrets. This idea of conspiracy theories — if there were aliens or alien spaceships or anything under the control of the United States government that we knew about, seen, photographs, what have you . . . I promise you some guy guarding the installation would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend to impress her. There would be leaks.

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, in conversation with Stephen Colbert, CBS (May 5, 2026).