94.

Look to the Miracle!

In my research into Leonard Read’s writing, I recently came across “Look to the Miracle” (Read 1963a) an essay from the May 1963 issue of Notes from FEE. As a longtime writer for the publication, and a reader for even longer, I thought what he had to say almost half a century ago about how his work resists traditional classification would interest those who now find themselves in the same situation.

95.

How to Be like Socrates

Questions can tell us about the preconceptions of those who ask them and whether they seek wisdom or something else. Politicians asking about whom to blame for something they are at fault for or how to violate rights and liberties in a way that seems reasonable are not seeking wisdom.

96.

Ends, Means, and Leonard Read

Ovid, in Heroides, writes that “the result justifies the deed” (Ovid, Heroides, II.85). Machiavelli echoes this idea in The Prince. But do the ends really justify the means?

97.

To Abdicate or Not

Leonard Read admired and promoted wisdom, wherever it could be found, throughout his long history of fighting for liberty. You see it in the many quotes sprinkled throughout his writing. He wanted to build on that wisdom—that insight into truth—to show how it would buttress the case for individual freedom. That is a major reason why Read admired Ludwig von Mises, whom he saw as an exemplar of a wise man in many things.

References

Acton, 1st Baron. 1862. “Nationality.” Home and Foreign Review, July 1862. Adams, Henry. 1918. The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Aurelius, Marcus. 1902. The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Translated by George W. Chrystal. London: S. C. Brown.

Boswell, James. 1791. The Life of Samuel Johnson. London.

Boudreaux, Donald. 2023. “‘Common Good Capitalism’ vs. Capitalism.” Capitalism Magazine, May 10, 2023.

Index

Compiled by Roger E. Bissell

1619 Project, 313

2012 Summer Olympics, 333

“buy American,” 333–34, 337

“buy Local,” 334

“buy Union,” 334

Team USA uniforms, 333

abdication, abdicate, 396, 398

achievement, achieve, 4, 12, 19, 32, 49, 61–62, 73, 76, 80–81, 110–12, 115, 121, 130, 142, 156 – 57, 164, 214, 218, 223, 225, 240, 249, 253, 287, 291–92, 300, 358, 362, 378, 388

as overcoming obstacle, 302

becoming as highest form of, 302

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