What is your favorite Ludwig von Mises quotation?

[Shaka]

I know that there are many fans of Mises on this forum. I myself have written: (http://www.axiomaticeconomics.com/critiques/critiques18.php)


It would be more accurate to consider Menger and Mises forerunners of this author’s Axiomatic School while making Hayek the founder (and Böhm-Bawerk the forerunner) of the Hayekian School. Menger, Mises and this author are the only truly subjectivist economists.

Thus, for this reason and because Mises’ praxeological method and his regression theorem somewhat inspired this author’s postulate set, I insist on claiming Mises as my forerunner and on asking the economists now called “Austrians” (e.g. Garrison and Skousen) to call themselves Hayekians.

But there is one quotation of Mises' that I like best. In fact, I like it so much that I have budgeted $40 a day on the following Google Adwords campaign, which promotes just this one Mises quotation:

Defend First Amendment
Movement to Burn Toxic Textbooks
Seeks to Ban Books by Autistics. (http://www.axiomaticeconomics.com/toxic_textbooks.php)

Google Adwords charges me fourteen cents per visitor. Thus, every twenty-five days, at a cost of only $1000, I introduce over seven thousand people to the great economist's writing. Soon, hundreds of thousands of people who have never heard of Mises before will be familiar with his opposition to the German Historical School... They will be familiar with how Menger once opposed Gustav Schmoller, just as I now oppose Edward Fullbrook.

What do you guys think? Do you like this Mises quotation as much as I do?

[hugolp]

No.

PS: Why are you so obsessed with your axiomatic method? The human mind does not have the capacity to logically compute all the variable and arrive to a logical conclusion of the future. That is why we, humans, have feelings, and all the decision we take are emotional decisions.

[Cowlesy]

Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hangs on the results. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the greatest historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us. – Ludwig von Mises

[Shaka]

Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore, everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hangs on the results. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the greatest historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us. – Ludwig von Mises

Well spoken!

In his campaign to burn toxic textbooks (http://www.toxictextbooks.com/), Edward Fullbrook writes:


Textbook reform will damage many economic faculties and toxic textbook authors. The former will suffer losses to their reputations, the latter to their royalties, which in some cases run to millions of dollars.

Society can therefore expect well-placed and richly-funded strategic resistance to doing the right and necessary thing.

I may not have the millions of dollars that Fullbrook ascribes to his enemies, but I think $40 a day is thrusting myself vigorously into the intellectual battle, as Mises called on us to do. We all have to do our part!