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If goods don't cross borders,...

If goods don't cross borders, armies will.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

It is not true that the legis...

It is not true that the legislator has absolute power over our persons and property. The existence of persons and property preceded the existence of the legislator, and his function is only to guarantee their safety.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Why don't you reform yourselv...

Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

The law is the collective org...

The law is the collective organization of the individual's right to lawful defense of his life, liberty and property. When it is used for anything else, no matter how noble the cause, it becomes perverted and justice is weakened. Thus, the law has become perverted by stupid greed and false philanthropy.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

The law has been perverted th...

The law has been perverted through the influence of two very different causes-naked greed and misconceived philanthropy.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Treat all economic questions ...

Treat all economic questions from the viewpoint of the consumer, for the interests of the consumer are the interests of the human race.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Socialism, like the ancient i...

Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all . . . . It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Sometimes the law defends plu...

Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim - when he defends himself - as a criminal.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

The real cost of the State is...

The real cost of the State is the prosperity we do not see, the jobs that don’t exist, the technologies to which we do not have access, the businesses that do not come into existence, and the bright future that is stolen from us. The State has looted us just as surely as a robber who enters our home at night and steals all that we love.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Ah, you miserable creatures! ...

Ah, you miserable creatures! You who think that you are so great! You who judge humanity to be so small! You who wish to reform everything! Why don't you reform yourselves? That task would be sufficient enough.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

All you have to do, is to see...

All you have to do, is to see whether the law takes from some what belongs to them in order to give it to others to whom it does not belong. We must see whether the law performs, for the profit of one citizen and to the detriment of others, an act which that citizen could not perform himself without being guilty of a crime. Repeal such a law without delay. ... [I]f you don't take care, what begins by being an exception tends to become general, to multiply itself, and to develop into a veritable system.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

But how is this legal plunder...

But how is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

As long as it is admitted tha...

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.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

The law can be an instrument ...

The law can be an instrument of equalization only as it takes from some persons and gives to other persons. When the law does this, it is an instrument of plunder.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

It is impossible to introduce...

It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Life, faculties, production-i...

Life, faculties, production-in other words, individuality, liberty, property-this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

We hold from God the gift whi...

We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life - physical, intellectual, and moral life.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Let us first of all frugality...

Let us first of all frugality in government-peace and freedom we will have as a bonus.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

There is not a tool, an imple...

There is not a tool, an implement, or a machine that has not resulted in a decrease in the contribution of human labor. Labor is not made permanently idle [though]; when replaced in one special category... it turns its attack against other obstacles on the main road to progress.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

And this is what has taken pl...

And this is what has taken place. The delusion of the day is to enrich all classes at the expense of each other; it is to generalize plunder under pretense of organizing it.

Frederic Bastiat 136 quotes

Добрые, щедрые, великодушные: 6 советских актеров, которые были всеобщими любимчиками

23

Советских актёров часто ставят в пример как образец духовной силы, национальной гордости и внутренней красоты. Они стали символами эпохи, носителями культуры и нравственности. Но, как известно, за кул...

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