Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists conclude that we object to its being done at all.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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It is impossible to introduce into society a greater change and a greater evil than this: the conversion of the law into an instrument of plunder.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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Competition is merely the absence of oppression.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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The profit of the one is the profit of the other.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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By virtue of exchange, one man’s prosperity is beneficial to all others.
~ Frédéric Bastiat

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