There is in all of us a strong disposition to regard what is lawful as legitimate, so much so that many falsely derive all justice from law. It is su… - Frédéric Bastiat

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There is in all of us a strong disposition to regard what is lawful as legitimate, so much so that many falsely derive all justice from law. It is sufficient, then, for the law to order and sanction plunder, that it may appear to many consciences just and sacred. Slavery, protection, and monopoly find defenders, not only in those who profit by them, but in those who suffer by them. If you suggest a doubt as to the morality of these institutions, it is said directly — “You are a dangerous experimenter, a utopian, a theorist, a despiser of the laws; you would shake the basis upon which society rests.

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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

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Claude Frédéric Bastiat Frederic Bastiat
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Slavery, protection, and monopoly find defenders, not only in those who profit by them, but in those who suffer by them.

Additional quotes by Frédéric Bastiat

Es esta una época en la que, bajo la influencia de tales enseñanzas, que son el fondo de la educación clásica, cada uno ha querido situarse fuera y por encima de la humanidad, para arreglarla, organizarla e instituirla a su gusto.

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Nature, or rather God, has bestowed upon every one of us the right to defend his person, his liberty, and his property, since these are the three constituent or preserving elements of life; elements, each of which is rendered complete by the others, and that cannot be understood without them.

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