Friedrich Hayek
Champion of classical liberalism, Road to Serfdom
Most quoted
"The marvel is that in a case like that of a scarcity of one raw material, without an order being issued, without more than perhaps a handful of people knowing the cause, tens of thousands of people whose identity could not be ascertained by months of investigation, are made to use the material or its products more sparingly."
— from The Use of Knowledge in Society, 1945
"I am convinced that if it were the result of deliberate human design, and if the people guided by the price changes understood that their decisions have significance far beyond their immediate aim, this mechanism would have been acclaimed as one of the greatest triumphs of the human mind."
— from The Use of Knowledge in Society, 1945
"The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful tools human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from trying to do better."
— from The Constitution of Liberty, 1960
All quotes by Friedrich Hayek (235)
Knowledge is always dispersed and decentralized.
The greatest danger to freedom is the belief that we can achieve perfect justice.
The more we try to plan, the more we destroy the spontaneous order.
The price system is a marvelous mechanism for communicating information.
True individualism is not egoism, but respect for the individual.
The greatest service we can render to humanity is to teach them to think for themselves.
The more complex society becomes, the less we can plan it.
The rule of law is the foundation of a free society.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
I am deeply concerned about the erosion of individual responsibility.
The greatest danger to freedom is the concentration of power.
The spontaneous order of society is far more effective than any conscious design.
The pursuit of equality often leads to the destruction of liberty.
The more we try to control the economy, the more we create instability.
The true measure of a society is not how much it plans, but how much it allows individuals to plan for themselves.
I believe in the power of ideas to change the world.
The greatest threat to civilization is the belief that we can create a perfect society.
The only way to achieve progress is through trial and error.
The greatest danger to freedom is the illusion of security.
The more we rely on government, the less responsible we become.
Contemporaries of Friedrich Hayek
Other Economicss born within 50 years of Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992).