Trade protection accumulates upon a single point the good which it effects, while the evil inflicted is infused throughout the mass. The one strikes the eye at a first glance, while the other becomes perceptible only to close investigation.
We cannot doubt that self-interest is the mainspring of human nature. It must be clearly understood that this word is used here to designate a universal, incontestable fact, resulting from the nature of man, and not an adverse judgment, as would be the word selfishness.
Nothing is more senseless than to base so many expectations on the state, that is, to assume the existence of collective wisdom and foresight after taking for granted the existence of individual imbecility and improvidence.
Slavery, protection, and monopoly find defenders, not only in those who profit by them, but in those who suffer by them.
Legal plunder has two roots: One, as we have just seen, is in human selfishness; the other is in false philanthropy.
The balance of trade is an article of faith.
Treat all economic questions from the viewpoint of the consumer, for the interests of the consumer are the interests of the human race.
The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.
Justice is achieved only when injustice is absent.
The law commit legal plunder by violating liberty and property.
No legal plunder: This is the principle of justice...
Since no individual acting separately can lawfully use force to destroy the rights of others, does it not logically follow that the same principle also applies to the common force that is nothing more than the organized combination of the individual forces?
Man acquires wealth in proportion as he puts his labor to better account.
And what is liberty, whose very name makes the heart beat faster and shakes the world? Is it not the union of all liberties – liberty of conscience, of education, of association, of the press, of travel, or labor, or trade?
It is easier to show the disorder that must accompany reform than the order that should follow it.
As long as it is admitted that the law may be diverted from its true purpose – that it may violate property instead of protecting it – then everyone will want to participate in making the law, either to protect himself against plunder or to use it for plunder.
The mission of law is not to oppress persons and plunder them of their property, even thought the law may be acting in a philanthropic spirit. Its mission is to protect property.
The profit of the one is the profit of the other.
We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life – physical, intellectual, and moral life.
When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.
It’s always tempting to do good at someone else’s expense.