"Hayek's analysis of the perils of the planned society and the command economy is, indeed, unrivalled. He shows how attempts to defy markets are doomed to be self-defeating. He warns us that beneath the seductive slogans and the simplistic targets of the utopians who promise heaven on earth there frequently lurks the reality of a totalitarian hell. He reminds us that we must value the habits, rules and institutions of liberty for their own sake if we are to enjoy for long the benefits that freedom brings. And all these messages are as relevant to our own age as when he first spoke to the West about that Road to Serfdom. Perhaps more so. This is because Hayek is still the preeminent modern philosopher of ordered liberty — something that in every continent is today under threat from dark forces of anarchy, hatred, revolution, fanaticism and violence. Against such ideologues, he encourages us to have faith in the peaceful, subtle processes by which people co-operate in fulfilling their requirements under a rule of law; to rely on an extended, spontaneous order; in short, to promote the system generally known as capitalism. Hayek is, therefore, the prophet not of doom and disaster, but of peace and plenty. His is a voice of wisdom for our time, and for all time. We should listen to him."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Philosophers from AustriaAcademics from the United KingdomAcademics from AustriaFriedrich HayekEconomists from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Margaret Thatcher, Signed Speech on Hayek, 2003
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek CH (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian, later British, economist and philosopher best known for his defense of [[w:classical liberalism|classical
247 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Friedrich Hayek →
Related Quotes
"An Acquisitive Society reverences the possession of wealth, as a Functional Society would honour, even in the person …"
"Only at first does it seem paradoxical that the anti-internationalism of conservatism is so frequently associated wit…"
"At Chicago, Hayek put aside his more technical economic work for the development of a social and political theory tha…"
"Life at Cambridge during those war years was to me particularly congenial, and it completed the process of thorough a…"
"If craftsmen and blacksmiths were feared for transforming material substance, if traders were feared for transforming…"
"The most important player on Ronald Reagan's economic team is Ronald Reagan. The person most responsible for creating…"
"The human mind, Hayek says, is not just limited in its ability to synthesize a vast array of concrete facts, it is al…"
"Since only actions aimed at perceived benefit to others were, to Aristotle's mind, morally approved, actions solely f…"
"An evil fate befall German efforts to defend the ideal of liberty in general and in the field of economics in particu…"
"You cannot successfully use your technical knowledge unless you are a fairly educated person, and, in particular, hav…"