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Quotes from Justice and Fraternity — Frédéric Bastiat

1801–1850 France

← All quotes by Frédéric Bastiat

4 quotes

This is done now; we desire that it be done better.

Justice and Fraternity (1848)

Everyone's effort will be directed toward snatching a scrap of fraternal privilege from the legislature. The suffering classes, although having the greatest claim, will not always have the greatest success.

Justice and Fraternity (1848)

Either fraternity is spontaneous, or it does not exist. To decree it is to annihilate it. The law can indeed force men to remain just; in vain would it try to force them to be self-sacrificing.

Justice and Fraternity (1848)

When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby abrogated. Everyone will then direct his efforts toward contributing little to, and taking much from, the common fund of sacrifices. Now, is it the most unfortunate who gains from this struggle? Certainly not, but rather the most influential and calculating.

Justice and Fraternity (1848)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Frédéric Bastiat (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.