Trade barriers constitute isolation; isolation gives rise to hatred, hatred to war, and war to invasion.
Frederic BastiatEveryone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state wants to live at the expense of everyone.
Frederic BastiatSociety is composed of men, and every man is a FREE agent. Since man is free, he can choose; since he can choose, he can err; since he can err, he can suffer. I go further: He must err and he must suffer; for his starting point is ignorance, and in his ignorance he sees before him an infinite number of unknown roads, all of which save one lead to error.
Frederic BastiatThe law has been perverted through the influence of two very different causes-naked greed and misconceived philanthropy.
Frederic BastiatWhat, then is law [government]? It is the collective organization of the individual right to lawful defense.
Frederic BastiatWhen misguided public opinion honors what is despicable and despises what is honorable, punishes virtue and rewards vice, encourages what is harmful and discourages what is useful, applauds falsehood and smothers truth under indifference or insult, a nation turns its back on progress and can be restored only by the terrible lessons of catastrophe.
Frederic Bastiat