1. Skip to navigation
  2. Skip to content
  3. Skip to sidebar

The Ludwig von Mises Institute

Tu Ne Cede Malis

Advancing the scholarship of liberty in the tradition of the Austrian School for 30 years

Search Mises.org

Ludwig von Mises: "Big business depends entirely on the patronage of those who buy its products: the biggest enterprises loses its power and its influence when it loses its customers." - Economic Policy


Quotable MisesThis database of quotations from Mises was prepared for The Quotable Mises edited by Mark Thornton, available from the Mises Institute store for $20. Send corrections to the editor. Here is a source page on the editions of the books referenced.

Put Mises quotes on your site.

Search:

Browse By: Title | Subject | Author | Source
Top> Browse by subject: History
AuthorQuoteSourcePageSubject
Ludwig von MisesHistory speaks only to those people who know how to interpret it.Human Action p. 859; p. 863History
Ludwig von MisesHistorical knowledge is indispensable for those who want to build a better world.Omnipotent Government p. 14History
Ludwig von MisesHistory in the broadest sense of the term is the totality of human experience.The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science p. 45History
Ludwig von MisesHistory should teach us to recognize causes and to understand driving forces; and when we understand everything, we will forgive everything.Nation, State, and Economy p. 2History
Ludwig von MisesIt is a fact that hardly any historian has fully avoided passing judgments of value.Theory and History p. 21History
Ludwig von MisesThe way in which the history of the last two hundred years has been treated is really a scandal.Planning for Freedom p. 170History
Ludwig von MisesThere is no such thing as a nonhistorical analysis of the present state of affairs.Theory and History p. 287History
Ludwig von MisesThe mere fact that an event happened in a distant country and a remote age does not in itself prove that it has no bearing on the present.Theory and History p. 290History
Ludwig von MisesAgain and again, the early historians of capitalism haveone can hardly use a milder wordfalsified history.Economic Policy p. 7History
Ludwig von MisesHistory can tell us what happened in the past. But it cannot assert that it must happen again in the future.Human Action p. 546; p. 549History
Ludwig von MisesA historians achievement consists in presenting the past in a new perspective of understanding.Theory and History p. 290History
Ludwig von MisesHistory looks backward into the past, but the lesson it teaches concerns things to come. It does not teach indolent quietism; it rouses man to emulate the deeds of earlier generations.Theory and History p. 294History
Ludwig von MisesNeither as judges allotting praise and blame nor as avengers seeking out the guilty should we face the past. We seek truth, not guilt; we want to know how things came about to understand them, not to issue condemnations.Nation, State, and Economy p. 1History
Ludwig von MisesIt is not the task of history to gratify the need of the masses for heroes and scapegoats.Nation, State, and Economy p. 1History
Ludwig von MisesIt is not the task of history to project the hatred and disagreements of the present back into the past and to draw from battles fought long ago weapons for the disputes of ones own time.Nation, State, and Economy p. 2History
Ludwig von MisesHistory makes one wise, but not competent to solve concrete problems.Epistemological Problems of Economics p. xxiiiHistory
Ludwig von MisesEvery action adds something to history, affects the course of future events, and is in this sense a historical fact. The most trivial performance of daily routine by dull people is no less a historical datum than is the most startling innovation of the genius.Theory and History p. 195History