Conservatism Is Only As Good As What

We Must Shed The Illusion That We Can Deliberately "create The Future Of Mankind." This Is The Final Conclusion Of The Forty Years Which I Have Now Devoted To The Study Of These Problems

What Our Generation Has Forgotten Is That The System Of Private Property Is The Most Important Guarantee Of Freedom, Not Only For Those Who Own Property, But Scarcely Less For Those Who Do Not. It Is Only Because The Control Of The Means Of Production Is Divided Among Many People Acting Independently That Nobody Has Complete Power Over Us, That We As Individuals Can Decide What To Do With Ourselves.

It Is Because Freedom Means The Renunciation Of Direct Control Of Individual Efforts That A Free Society Can Make Use Of So Much More Knowledge Than The Mind Of The Wisest Ruler Could Comprehend.

No Human Mind Can Comprehend All The Knowledge Which Guides The Actions Of Society.

The System Of Private Property Is The Most Important Guaranty Of Freedom, Not Only For Those Who Own Property, But Scarcely Less For Those Who Do Not.