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
People do not cooperate under the division of labor because they love or should love one another. They cooperate because this best serves their own interests. Neither love nor charity nor any other sympathetic sentiments but rightly understood selfishness is what originally impelled man to adjust himself to the requirements of society, to respect the rights and freedoms of his fellow men and to substitute peaceful collaboration for enmity and conflict.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Cooperation arises from self-interest rather than love or sympathy.
In this quote, Ludwig Von Mises emphasizes that the foundation of social cooperation stems from individuals acting in their own self-interest rather than out of love or altruism. By recognizing that people are motivated by their personal benefits, he illustrates how society can function effectively through peaceful collaboration, where mutual respect for rights and freedoms replaces conflict and enmity.
Themes
CooperationSelf-InterestSocietyPeaceful CollaborationAltruism
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about economics, one could use this quote to illustrate the motivations behind trade.
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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.
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Each epoch has found in the Gospels what it sought to find there, and has overlooked what it wished to overlook.
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