Quotes by Milton Friedman

“For example, the supporters of tariffs treat it as self-evident that the creation of jobs is a desirable end, in and of itself, regardless of what the persons employed do. That is clearly wrong. If...”

“A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.”

“I think that nothing is so important for freedom as recognizing in the law each individuals natural right to property, and giving individuals a sense that they own something that theyre responsible...”

“Self-interest is not myopic selfishness. It is whatever it is that interests the participants, whatever they value, whatever goals they pursue. The scientist seeking to advance the frontiers of his...”

“The ICC [Interstate Commerce Commission] illustrates what might be called the natural history of government intervention. A real or fancied evil leads to demands to do something about it. A politic...”

“Society doesn't have values. People have values.”

“There is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system...”

“Now here's somebody who wants to smoke a marijuana cigarette. If he's caught, he goes to jail. Now is that moral? Is that proper? I think it's absolutely disgraceful that our government, supposed t...”

“Social responsibility is a fundamentally subversive doctrine" in a free society, and have said that in such a society, "there is one and only one social responsibility of businessto use it resource...”

“I think that the Internet is going to be one of the major forces for reducing the role of government.”

“Well first of all, tell me: Is there some society you know that doesnt run on greed? You think Russia doesnt run on greed? You think China doesnt run on greed? What is greed? Of course, none of us ...”

“Arnold Harberger, Milton Friedman & Co. Inc., your modest proposal of partial equilibrium for the general good is not without its own internal contradictions. Moreover, you cannot take complete cre...”

“These people live in many lands, speak different languages, practice different religions, may even hate one another- yet none of these differences prevented them from cooperating to produce a penci...”

“The great achievements of western capitalism have rebounded primarily to the benefit of the ordinary person. These achievements have made available to the masses conveniences and amenities that wer...”

“There is one and only one social responsibility of businessto use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is t...”

“Given greater freedom about where to send their children, parents of a kind would flock together and so prevent a healthy intermingling of children from decidedly different backgrounds.”

“This plea comes from the bottom of my heart. Every friend of freedom, and I know you are one, must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vis...”

“We economists don't know much, but we do know how to create a shortage. If you want to create a shortage of tomatoes, for example, just pass a law that retailers can't sell tomatoes for more than t...”

“We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.”

“The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science and literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.”