“Aristotle argues, possessions enable men to rise to a higher ethical level by giving them the opportunity to be generous: ‘liberality consists in the use which is made of property’—an argument which would greatly appeal to Christian theologians of the Middle Ages. Aristotle’s preferred regime was one founded on a middle class, with an equitable distribution of assets.”

—  Richard Pipes

Source: Property and Freedom (1999), p. 8

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Richard Pipes 46
American historian 1923–2018

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