Front Matter

The Ludwig von Mises Institute is dedicated to advancing the Austrian School of economics and libertarian scholarship. Founded in 1982, the Institute defends individual liberty, the free market, private property, sound money, and peace. Its broad range of teaching programs, fellowships, publications, and conferences is supported by voluntary donations.

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Copyright 1951, by Leonard E. Read. Printed in U.S.A. Permission to reprint granted without special request. Single copy: Fifty cents.

Digital edition by the Ludwig von Mises Institute 2013

eISBN: 978-1-61016-608-9

Table of Contents

Editor’s Note

A Growing Danger

Communism Is Not Geographic

All Except One

An Honest Man

Most Americans Believe in Socialism

Socialism Is State Ownership or Control

A Belief in Force

Public Education

The Post Office

Social Security

Government Golf

TVA, Rent Control, Tariffs, Wages, Prices

Two Paths to the Same Goal

Loss of Faith in Freedom

Morality Versus Legality

How NOT to Win Friends

The Nature of Influence

Two Kinds of Influence

How Are Teachers Selected?

The Student Designates His Teacher

You Can’t Shoot an Idea

Each Discovery Is Made by One Person

Hosts to Socialism

Negation is of Little Value

Affirmation Is Required

The Law of Probabilities

In Accord with Right Principle

Preparing for Truth

Ultimate Wisdom

Intellectual Integrity

Humility

Love of Freedom

Responsibility for Self

Principles and Ideals

Rejection of Force as a Creative Agent

Advancement of Understanding

Coinage to Stand Alone

A Spirit of Inquiry

Patience

Stance

Every Person Is Capable of Improvement

Freedom Is Not Outside of Man

Outlook for Freedom

Quality Comes First

What Would Christ Do?

Only the Right Is Practical

The substance for a thorough-going. Twentieth Century intellectual revolution is in the making, and is showing a vitality that can be accounted for only by the inextinguishable spirit of individualism—the insistence of man to complete his own creation. That this spirit at present is evident among only a minority need not necessarily deject the devotee of liberty. Everything begins with a minority of one, extends to a few, and then to many.

The following allegory is mostly an attempt at reporting—compacting—the ideas and experiences, failures and successes, of many associates and friends during the last two decades, relating to the most important issue of our time, and as they have taken part in this small but growing revolution in ideas.