An intellectual inferiority of the masses would manifest itself most evidently in their aiming at the abolition of the system in which they themselves are supreme and are served by the elite of the most talented men.

War can really cause no economic boom, at least not directly, since an increase in wealth never does result from destruction of goods.

Government is an apparatus of compulsion and coercion.

Human civilization is not something achieved against nature; it is rather the outcome of the working of the innate qualities of man.

In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold weather and rain.... the demand for goods is widely influenced by metaphysical, religious, and ethical considerations, by aesthetic value judgments, by customs, habits, prejudice, tradition, changing fashions, and many other things.

A citizen who casts his ballot without having to the best of his abilities studied as much economics as he can fails in his civic duties.

The characteristic feature of militarism is not the fact that a nation has a powerful army or navy. It is the paramount role assigned to the army within the political structure. Even in peacetime the army is supreme; it is the predominant factor in political life. The subjects must obey the government as soldiers must obey their superiors. Within a militarist community there is no freedom; there are only obedience and discipline.