The idea that political freedom can be preserved in the absence of economic freedom, and vice versa, is an illusion. Political freedom is the corollary of economic freedom.
Nobody can be at the same time a correct bureaucrat and an innovator
Interpretation
What this quote means
Bureaucracy and innovation are often at odds, as one requires conformity while the other demands creativity.
This quote by Ludwig Von Mises highlights the inherent conflict between the roles of a bureaucrat and an innovator. Bureaucracy is characterized by adherence to rules and regulations, focusing on consistency and order. In contrast, innovation thrives on creativity, flexibility, and the willingness to challenge the status quo. The dual expectation of fulfilling both roles simultaneously is not feasible, as the constraints of bureaucratic procedures can stifle the imaginative spirit necessary for true innovation.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about organizational change, one might quote this to emphasize the need for innovative thinking over bureaucratic processes.
More from Ludwig Von Mises
All quotes βWars of aggression are popular nowadays with those nations convinced that only victory and conquest could improve their material well-being.
Only stilted pedants can conceive the idea that there are absolute norms to tell what is beautiful and what is not. They try to derive from the works of the past a code of rules with which, as they fancy, the writers and artists of the future should comply. But the genius does not cooperate with the pundit.
The most serious dangers for American freedom and the American way of life do not come from without.
The public firm can nowhere maintain itself in free competition with the private firm; it is possible today only where it has a monopoly that excludes competition. Even that alone is evidence of its lesser economic productivity.
Each epoch has found in the Gospels what it sought to find there, and has overlooked what it wished to overlook.
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Whether a man chooses to tell the truth in long sentences or short jokes is a problem analogous to whether he chooses to tell the truth in French or in German.