Source: Capitalism and Freedom (1962), Ch. 1 The Relation Between Economic Freedom and Political Freedom, 2002 edition, page 10
Context: Because we live in a largely free society, we tend to forget how limited is the span of time and the part of the globe for which there has ever been anything like : the typical state of mankind is tyranny, servitude, and misery. The nineteenth century and early twentieth century in the Western world stand out as striking exceptions to the general trend of historical development. Political freedom in this instance clearly came along with the free market and the development of capitalist institutions. So also did political freedom in the golden age of Greece and in the early days of the Roman era.
History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.
What is to be Done? (1902)
“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness”
“It is not freedom from conditions, but it is freedom to take a stand toward the conditions.”
Source: Man's Search for Meaning
Source: 1910s, Proposed Roads To Freedom (1918), Ch. V: Government and Law, p. 75
“Hope is necessary in every condition.”
No. 67 (6 November 1750)
The Rambler (1750–1752)
Context: Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, of sickness, or captivity, would, without this comfort, be insupportable; nor does it appear that the happiest lot of terrestrial existence can set us above the want of this general blessing; or that life, when the gifts of nature and of fortune are accumulated upon it, would not still be wretched, were it not elevated and delighted by the expectation of some new possession, of some enjoyment yet behind, by which the wish shall at last be satisfied, and the heart filled up to its utmost extent.
The Limits of Science. (New York: Harper & Row, 1984) p. 98.
1980s
“The shuffle only demonstrated people’s fatuous belief in a political cure for a human condition.”
Source: Greybeard (1964), Chapter 6 “London” (p. 170)
Source: Social Amnesia: A Critique of Conformist Psychology from Adler to Laing (1975), p. 62
Source: The Theory of Political Economy (1871), Chapter III, Theory of Utility, p. 82.
