THE QUOTABLE MISES

MARK THORNTON, EDITOR

Copyright © 2005 by the Ludwig von Mises Institute

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ISBN: 0-945466-45-5

THE QUOTABLE MISES

MARK THORNTON, EDITOR

Ludwig von Mises was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century. More than just an economist, Mises was an historian, philosopher, sociologist, social critic and so much more. His prolific output includes more than twenty books and hundreds of articles that explore virtually every subject of interest related to the economy and social thought.

Human action is purposeful behavior.

Human Action, p. 11; p. 11

Human life is an unceasing sequence of single actions.

Human Action, p. 45; p. 45

Action is purposive conduct. It is not simply behavior, but behavior begot by judgments of value, aiming at a definite end and guided by ideas concerning the suitability or unsuitability of definite means. . . . It is conscious behavior. It is choosing. It is volition; it is a display of the will.

LENIN

Lenin’s ideal was to build a nation’s production effort according to the model of the post office.

Liberty and Property, p. 14

In his life and his reading he remained so far removed from the facts of economic life that he was as great a stranger to the work of the bourgeoisie as a Hottentot to the work of an explorer taking geographical measurements.

Socialism, p. 189

The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (Spring Mills, Pa.: Libertarian Press, [1956] 1972).

Austrian Economics: An Anthology (Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y.: Foundation for Economic Education, 1996) edited by Bettina Bien Greaves.

Bureaucracy (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House, [1944] 1969).

A Critique of Interventionism (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Arlington House Publishers, [1929] 1977).

Defense, Controls, and Inflation (Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1952) edited by Aaron Director.

LUDWIG VON MISES