Create Yours

Top 30 Leonard Read Quotes (2025 Update)

Leonard Read Quote: “Statism, which forces all of us within its orbit, is nothing but a political system of organized plunder, managed by every conceivable type of pressure group.”

1. “Statism, which forces all of us within its orbit, is nothing but a political system of organized plunder, managed by every conceivable type of pressure group.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “If the bureaucracy is not checked, it will tend to build, in the name of peace, a defense against every conceivable contingency – so much ‘security’ that ‘the secured’ are without resources – helpless and hopeless.”

2. “If the bureaucracy is not checked, it will tend to build, in the name of peace, a defense against every conceivable contingency – so much ‘security’ that ‘the secured’ are without resources – helpless and hopeless.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “A fact rarely suspected, let alone understood, is that businessmen are by no means the chief beneficiaries of the free market, private ownership, limited government way of life. Many business ventures fail entirely. Who then are the beneficiaries? The masses!”

3. “A fact rarely suspected, let alone understood, is that businessmen are by no means the chief beneficiaries of the free market, private ownership, limited government way of life. Many business ventures fail entirely. Who then are the beneficiaries? The masses!”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Such terms as communism, socialism, Fabianism, the welfare state, Nazism, fascism, state interventionism, egalitarianism, the planned economy, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier are simply different labels for much the same thing.”

4. “Such terms as communism, socialism, Fabianism, the welfare state, Nazism, fascism, state interventionism, egalitarianism, the planned economy, the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the New Frontier are simply different labels for much the same thing.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “If we remove the hope of profit as a means to alleviate misfortune – poverty, illness, misery, disaster – we shall increase our misfortunes and make them permanent.”

5. “If we remove the hope of profit as a means to alleviate misfortune – poverty, illness, misery, disaster – we shall increase our misfortunes and make them permanent.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Insecurity must follow the transfer of responsibility from self to others, particularly when transferred to arbitrary and capricious government. Genuine security is a matter of self-responsibility, based on the right to the fruits of one’s own labor and freedom to trade.”

6. “Insecurity must follow the transfer of responsibility from self to others, particularly when transferred to arbitrary and capricious government. Genuine security is a matter of self-responsibility, based on the right to the fruits of one’s own labor and freedom to trade.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “There is no greater dishonesty than man effecting his own private gains at the expense of others.”

7. “There is no greater dishonesty than man effecting his own private gains at the expense of others.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “There is no moral distinction between petty thievery and ‘from each according to ability, to each according to need.’”

8. “There is no moral distinction between petty thievery and ‘from each according to ability, to each according to need.’”

— Leonard Read

9. “Coercion is as much the tool of the welfare state as it is of communism. The programs and edicts of both are backed by the police force. All of us know this to be true under communism, but it is equally true under our own brand of welfare statism.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “What, actually, is the difference between communism and fascism? Both are forms of statism, authoritarianism. The only difference between Stalin’s communism and Mussolini’s fascism is an insignificant detail in organizational structure.”

10. “What, actually, is the difference between communism and fascism? Both are forms of statism, authoritarianism. The only difference between Stalin’s communism and Mussolini’s fascism is an insignificant detail in organizational structure.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The proper and limited use of government is to invoke a common justice and keep the peace – and that is all.”

11. “The proper and limited use of government is to invoke a common justice and keep the peace – and that is all.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Under both the welfare state and communism, the responsibility for the welfare, security, and prosperity of the people is presumed to rest with the central government.”

12. “Under both the welfare state and communism, the responsibility for the welfare, security, and prosperity of the people is presumed to rest with the central government.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct it. How, for instance, can one compare a socialized post office with private postal delivery when the latter has been outlawed?”

13. “Once an activity has been socialized, it is impossible to point out, by concrete example, how men in a free market could better conduct it. How, for instance, can one compare a socialized post office with private postal delivery when the latter has been outlawed?”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The advancement of freedom is not a matter of who wields political power over creative actions; rather, it depends upon the disassembling of such power.”

14. “The advancement of freedom is not a matter of who wields political power over creative actions; rather, it depends upon the disassembling of such power.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “What precisely is this disease that causes inflation and all these other troubles? It has many popular names, such as socialism, communism, state interventionism, and welfare statism.”

15. “What precisely is this disease that causes inflation and all these other troubles? It has many popular names, such as socialism, communism, state interventionism, and welfare statism.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The free market opens the way for men to operate at their moral best, and all observation confirms that the poor fare better under these circumstances than when the way is closed, as it is under socialism.”

16. “The free market opens the way for men to operate at their moral best, and all observation confirms that the poor fare better under these circumstances than when the way is closed, as it is under socialism.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Socialism takes and redistributes wealth, but it is utterly incapable of creating wealth.”

17. “Socialism takes and redistributes wealth, but it is utterly incapable of creating wealth.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The libertarian can have no truck with ‘left’ or ‘right’ because he regrets any form of authoritarianism – the use of police force to control the creative life of man.”

18. “The libertarian can have no truck with ‘left’ or ‘right’ because he regrets any form of authoritarianism – the use of police force to control the creative life of man.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “No one has more than scratched the surface when it comes to understanding and explaining the miracle of the market.”

19. “No one has more than scratched the surface when it comes to understanding and explaining the miracle of the market.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “There is no moral distinction between the act of a pickpocket and the progressive income tax.”

20. “There is no moral distinction between the act of a pickpocket and the progressive income tax.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The American people are becoming more and more afraid of, and are running away from, their own revolution.”

21. “The American people are becoming more and more afraid of, and are running away from, their own revolution.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “There is really nothing that can be done except by an individual. Only individuals can learn. Only individuals can think creatively. Only individuals can cooperate. Only individuals can combat statism.”

22. “There is really nothing that can be done except by an individual. Only individuals can learn. Only individuals can think creatively. Only individuals can cooperate. Only individuals can combat statism.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “There could be no greater error than to conclude that statism caused prosperity.”

23. “There could be no greater error than to conclude that statism caused prosperity.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “In market terms, one is entitled to what others will offer in willing exchange. That is all!”

24. “In market terms, one is entitled to what others will offer in willing exchange. That is all!”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “True, the free market ignores the poor precisely as it does not recognize the wealthy – it is ‘no respecter of persons’”

25. “True, the free market ignores the poor precisely as it does not recognize the wealthy – it is ‘no respecter of persons’”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Is it not obvious that the more complex an economy, the more certainly will governmental control of productive effort exert a retarding influence?”

26. “Is it not obvious that the more complex an economy, the more certainly will governmental control of productive effort exert a retarding influence?”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Were it necessary to bring a majority into a comprehension of the libertarian philosophy, the cause of liberty would be utterly hopeless. Every significant movement in history has been led by one or just a few individuals with a small minority of energetic supporters.”

27. “Were it necessary to bring a majority into a comprehension of the libertarian philosophy, the cause of liberty would be utterly hopeless. Every significant movement in history has been led by one or just a few individuals with a small minority of energetic supporters.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Whenever government assumed responsibility for the security, welfare, and prosperity of citizens, the costs of government rise beyond the point where it is politically expedient to cover them by direct tax levies.”

28. “Whenever government assumed responsibility for the security, welfare, and prosperity of citizens, the costs of government rise beyond the point where it is politically expedient to cover them by direct tax levies.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “Socialistic practices are now so ingrained in our thinking, so customary, so much a part of our mores, that we take them for granted.”

29. “Socialistic practices are now so ingrained in our thinking, so customary, so much a part of our mores, that we take them for granted.”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The system of plunder derives much of its support from individuals who do not subscribe to socialism but who say, ‘We’re paying for it, so we might as well get our share’”

30. “The system of plunder derives much of its support from individuals who do not subscribe to socialism but who say, ‘We’re paying for it, so we might as well get our share’”

— Leonard Read

Leonard Read Quote: “The Constitution was definitely and specifically designed to hobble all people who are so foolish as to think themselves capable of leading others by compulsion. It so functions today to an extent exasperating to the authoritarians – which is why they want to get rid of it.”

31. “The Constitution was definitely and specifically designed to hobble all people who are so foolish as to think themselves capable of leading others by compulsion. It so functions today to an extent exasperating to the authoritarians – which is why they want to get rid of it.”

— Leonard Read

Motivational Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Motivational Quotes

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Steve Jobs Quotes

Steve Jobs Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS APPLE

Inspirational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

COURAGE MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

LIFE SPIRITUALITY

Save image...
Permalink
Open in new tab
Copy quote text

Beautiful Wallpapers and Images

We hope you enjoyed our collection of 30 Leonard Read Quotes.

All the images on this page were created with QuoteFancy Studio.

Use QuoteFancy Studio to create high-quality images for your desktop backgrounds, blog posts, presentations, social media, videos, posters, and more.

Thank you!

Please check your email.