Humility is the distinguishing virtue of the believer in freedom; arrogance, of the paternalist.
Interpretation
Humility is essential for those who truly value freedom, while arrogance is characteristic of those who impose their will on others.
In this quote, Milton Friedman emphasizes the importance of humility as a necessary trait for individuals who advocate for freedom and self-determination. In contrast, he suggests that arrogance is typical of paternalistic attitudes where one assumes authority over others, diminishing their autonomy and freedom.
In practice
In a discussion about leadership styles, one might use this quote to illustrate the difference between humble and arrogant leaders.
The economic miracle that has been the United States was not produced by socialized enterprises, by government-unon-industry cartels or by centralized economic planning. It was produced by private enterprises in a profit-and-loss system. And losses were at least as important in weeding out failures, as profits in fostering successes. Let government succor failures, and we shall be headed for stagnation and decline.
Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes.
There is no place for government to prohibit consumers from buying products the effect of which will be to harm themselves.
There is one and only one social responsibility of business - to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.
The great danger to the consumer is the monopoly -whether private or governmental. His most effective protection is free competition at home and free trade throughout the world. The consumer is protected from being exploited by one seller by the existence of another seller from whom he can buy and who is eager to sell to him. Alternative sources of supply protect the consumer far more effectively than all the Ralph Naders of the world.
The strongest argument for free enterprise is that it prevents anybody from having too much power. Whether that person is a government official, a trade union official, or a business executive. If forces them to put up or shut up. They either have to deliver the goods, produce something that people are willing to pay for, are willing to buy, or else they have to go into a different business.
Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.
A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved bowls... saying that it is cruel to keep a fish in a bowl with curved sides because, gazing out, the fish would have a distorted view of reality. But how do we know we have the true, undistorted picture of reality?
How Americans restore trust may be an existential question for their country, then, but it's ultimately a practical one: What U.S. society needs to answer it in the coming years aren't lamentations but practical measures, especially among the emerging generations that will define America's future.
Nothing before, nothing behind; The steps of faith Fall on the seeming void, and find The Rock beneath.
Racism is predictable. It's predicted by interaction or lack thereof with people unlike you, people of other races.
Capital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty.
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