If capitalism worked as the socialists think an economic system ought to work, and provided a constant equality of living conditions for all, regardless of whether a man was able or not, resourceful or not, diligent or not, thrifty or not, if capitalism put no premiums on resourcefulness and effort and not penalty on idleness or vice, it would produce only an equality of destitution.

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The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.

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The essential notion of a capitalist society ... is voluntary cooperation, voluntary exchange. The essential notion of a socialist society is force.

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One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.

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When everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition. That is why buildings in the Soviet Union - like public housing in the United States - look decrepit within a year or two of their construction.

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The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

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Nobody spends somebody else's money as carefully as he spends his own.

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A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.

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Corruption is government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulations.

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Economic freedom is an essential requisite for political freedom. By enabling people to cooperate with one another without coercion or central direction, it reduces the area over which political power is exercised.

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