All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the rest in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest. Compared with the totality of knowledge which is continually utilized in the evolution of a dynamic civilization, the difference between the knowledge that the wisest and that the most ignorant individual can deliberately employ is comparatively insignificant.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that both the wise and the ignorant lack comprehensive knowledge, emphasizing the inherent limitations in human understanding.
Friedrich August Von Hayek's quote reflects on the nature of knowledge within society, asserting that political theories often overlook the common ignorance of individuals, irrespective of their perceived intelligence. He argues that those advocating for liberty recognize that true wisdom lies in acknowledging the limits of one's own understanding, highlighting that even the most knowledgeable individuals can only grasp a tiny fraction of the vast sea of knowledge that contributes to societal development. This perspective promotes humility and the need for broader dialogue across varying levels of knowledge.
In practice
In a speech about the value of open-mindedness in political discussion.
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.
The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.
It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress... it is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in the end learns to do better.
Fascism is the stage reached after communism has proved an illusion.
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.
The importance of our being free to do a particular thing has nothing to do with the question of whether we or the majority are ever likely to make use of that particular possibility. To grant no more freedom than all can exercise would be to misconceive its function completely. The freedom that will be used by only one man in a million may be more important to society and more beneficial to the majority than any freedom that we all use.
Men are naturally most impressed by diseases which have obvious manifestations, yet some of their worst enemies creep on them unobtrusively.
And I have the others in me. Even when I’m far away from them, I am forced to live with them. Even when I’m all alone, crowds surround me. I have no place to flee to, unless I were to flee from myself.
The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm.
Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence.
Every nation has a right to govern itself internally under what forms it pleases, and to change these forms at its own will.
From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.
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