By what right does the law force me to conform to the social plans of Mr. Mimerel, Mr. de Melun, Mr. Thiers, or Mr. Louis Blanc? If the law has a mor… - Frédéric Bastiat

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Engraved portrait of Frédéric Bastiat, facing left

By what right does the law force me to conform to the social plans of Mr. Mimerel, Mr. de Melun, Mr. Thiers, or Mr. Louis Blanc? If the law has a moral right to do this, why does it not, then, force these gentlemen to submit to my plans? Is it logical to suppose that nature has not given me sufficient imagination to dream up a utopia also? Should the law choose one fantasy among many, and put the organized force of government at its service only?

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About Frédéric Bastiat

Frédéric Bastiat (30 June 1801 – 24 December 1850) was an early free-market economist and classical liberal French author.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Émile Desmaisons. Lithograph by Auguste-Hilaire Léveillé. (Public domain / CC0)

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Claude Frédéric Bastiat Frederic Bastiat

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Additional quotes by Frédéric Bastiat

¡Ley pervertida! ¡Ley — y con ella, todas las fuerzas colectivas de la Nación — desviada de su objetivo legítimo y dirigida a un objetivo totalmente contrario! ¡Ley convertida en instrumento de todas las codicias, en lugar de frenar las codicias! ¡Ley hacedora de iniquidad, cuando su misión era castigar la iniquidad!

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How is it that the strange idea of making the law produce what it does not contain — prosperity, in a positive sense, wealth, science, religion — should ever have gained ground in the political world?

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