The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom is the corollary of economic freedom.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
History can tell us what happened in the past. But it cannot assert that it must happen again in the future.
Interpretation
What this quote means
History provides insights into past events but don't dictate future outcomes.
Ludwig Von Mises highlights the importance of learning from history while emphasizing that past events do not determine what will happen in the future. He suggests that while we can analyze and understand historical trends, we should not assume that they will necessarily repeat themselves, urging critical thinking and individual agency in shaping the future.
Themes
HistoryFuturePastInsightLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the unpredictability of markets, one could say, 'As Ludwig Von Mises said, history can tell us what happened in the past, but it cannot assert that it must happen again in the future.'
More from Ludwig Von Mises
All quotes βWars of aggression are popular nowadays with those nations convinced that only victory and conquest could improve their material well-being.
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Only stilted pedants can conceive the idea that there are absolute norms to tell what is beautiful and what is not. They try to derive from the works of the past a code of rules with which, as they fancy, the writers and artists of the future should comply. But the genius does not cooperate with the pundit.
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The most serious dangers for American freedom and the American way of life do not come from without.
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The public firm can nowhere maintain itself in free competition with the private firm; it is possible today only where it has a monopoly that excludes competition. Even that alone is evidence of its lesser economic productivity.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
Each epoch has found in the Gospels what it sought to find there, and has overlooked what it wished to overlook.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
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