Alexander von Humboldt on Freedom and Diversity: How State Interference Destroys Society

„The true purpose of man, not that which is dictated by changing inclinations, but that which is dictated by eternal and unchanging reason, is the highest and most proportionate development of his powers into a whole. Freedom is the first and indispensable condition for this development. (...) It is precisely the diversity that arises from the union of many that is the highest good that society offers, and this diversity is certainly always lost to the extent that the state interferes. It is no longer actually the members of a nation who live together in community, but individual subjects who enter into a relationship with the state, i.e., with the spirit that prevails in its government, and indeed into a relationship in which the superior power of the state already inhibits the free play of forces. Uniform causes have uniform effects. The more the state intervenes, the more similar not only everything that acts becomes, but also everything that is acted upon. (...) But anyone who reasons in this way for others is, not without reason, suspected of misunderstanding humanity and wanting to turn people into machines.“

Alexander von HumboldtAlexander von Humboldt emphasizes the importance of freedom for human development and warns against uniformity caused by state interference.
PreviousNext

Alexander von Humboldt was a Prussian naturalist, geographer, and explorer of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Humboldt's words remind us that true human development can only occur in freedom. The diversity of a society is its most valuable asset, endangered by state interference.


Translation or original: 🇩🇪Click here

Quelle: Hier klicken

i

3.0 / 5

Quote by Alexander von Humboldt on freedom, diversity, and the impact of state interference on society

Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an influential naturalist, geographer, and explorer, known for his extensive scientific expeditions in Central and South America. His work laid the foundations for many modern scientific disciplines.

Quote by Max Nordau about the burdens and exploitation of citizens under European governmentsCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
0 Comments
"The form in which all European states are governed today allows the services demanded of citizens to be squandered on foolish, frivolous and criminal undertakings. The whim of individuals, the self-interest of vanishingly small minorities, all too often determines the goal towards which the efforts of the whole are directed. Thus the individual citizen works and bleeds so that wars may be waged which destroy his life or his prosperity, so that fortresses, palaces, railroads, harbors or canals may be built from which neither he nor nine-tenths of the nation will ever derive the slightest benefit, so that new offices may be created, which will make the state machine still more cumbersome, the friction of its wheels still harder, in which he will lose still more of his time, still more of his freedom, so that officials may be highly paid who have no other purpose than to lead an ornamental existence at his expense and to make his existence more difficult; In a word, he works and bleeds in order to make his yoke heavier and his chains tighter and to create the possibility of obtaining even more work and even more blood from him...." Max Nordau
Read more
Quote about a new form of oppression in democratic nations by Alexis de TocquevilleCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
0 Comments
"I think then that the species of oppression by which democratic nations are menaced is unlike anything which ever before existed in the world: our contemporaries will find no prototype of it in their memories. I am trying myself to choose an expression which will accurately convey the whole of the idea I have formed of it, but in vain; the old words “despotism” and “tyranny” are inappropriate: the thing itself is new; and since I cannot name it, I must attempt to define it." Alexis de Tocqueville
Read more
Quote about liberty and moral maturity by Edmund Burke emphasizing the need for justice and restraint in societyCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
0 Comments
"Until you could make out practically that great work, a combination of opposing forces, "a work of labour long, and endless praise," the utmost caution ought to have been used in the reduction of the royal power, which alone was capable of holding together the comparatively heterogeneous mass of your states. But at this day, all these considerations are unreasonable. To what end should we discuss the limitations of royal power? Your king is in prison. Why speculate on the measure and standard of liberty? I doubt much, very much indeed, whether France is at all ripe for liberty on any standard. Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites, — in proportion as their love to justice is above their rapacity, — in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption, — in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters." Edmund Burke
Read more
Quote by Jesús Huerta de Soto about the power of entrepreneurial freedom and the impact of etatismCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
0 Comments
"We are unable to even conceive of the immeasurable achievements, progress, and discoveries of mankind that would be attainable in an entrepreneurial environment freed from all etatism. The creative power of human nature is such that it can take root and flourish even in the narrowest crevices left by the state. But when people realize the essentially perverse nature of the state that coerces them and perceive the immeasurable possibilities that are taken away from them day after day by blocking the driving force of their entrepreneurial creativity, then social protest will increase. Then there will be calls for reforms, for dismantling the state, and for steps toward a future that we don't even know today, but that will inevitably lift human civilization to previously unimaginable heights." Jesús Huerta de Soto
Read more
Albert Schweitzer quote about freedom, self-determination, courage, and refusal to trade dignity for securityCopyright © yoice.net – Quote Artwork
/
0 Comments
"Under no circumstances do I want to be merely a ′common′ man. I have the right to be exceptional – if I can. I want opportunities, not security. I do not want to be a citizen who is humiliated and dulled by government support. I want to encounter risk, have desires and fulfill them, suffer disaster and enjoy success. I refuse to sell my own determination for a pittance. I would prefer to face life’s difficulties rather than lead a secure existence. I prefer the exciting tension of my own success to the dull calm of Utopia. I want neither to sacrifice my freedom for benefits nor my human dignity for charity. I have learned to think and act for myself, to look the world squarely in the face and to recognize that this is my achievement. This is what is meant when we say: I am a free man!" Albert Schweitzer
Read more
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

Will Rogers Quotes: When Comedians Are Taken More Seriously Than Politician...Quote by Will Rogers about the changing perception of comedians and politiciansCopyright © yoice.net – Quote ArtworkInspirational quote by Alexander von Humboldt about doubt and exploringCopyright © yoice.net – Quote ArtworkDiscover Alexander von Humboldt’s Bold Wisdom – Motivation for Doubt...