Friedrich Hayek Quotes

A state of true and universal tolerance is best ensured by leaving alone the peculiarities of men and peoples.

But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth.

I'm not a reactionary.

I'm someone who believes in 'live and let live,' and that applies to everything.

To have a liberal temperament is a kind of psychological boon, To be able to understand that someone you disagree with is not just a terrible creature but somebody with whom you disagree.

The reformists do not believe in inflicting their point of view on anyone, not even on the orthodox Bohras. They accept the right of the orthodox also to believe and practise what they want. Similarly, they do not want others to inflict their viewpoint on them or coerce them to accept their authority on pain of social boycott.

All Fundamentalists are conservatives, but not all conservatives are Fundamentalists. The best conservatives can often give lessons to the liberals in true liberality of spirit, but the Fundamentalist program is essentially illiberal and intolerant.

The religious right needs to adapt to the reality of modern pluralism.

We have got to be open. We cannot be a single-issue party or a single-philosophy party.” …. I am concerned about the undercurrent of rigid conservatism where you don’t dare not toe the line.

To assure our freedom we must allow others the same freedom, even if occasionally it produces conduct by them which we would hold to be sinful. We know that the price of seeking to force our beliefs on others is that they might someday force theirs on us.

Democracy depends on the idea that we hold each others’ right to express ourselves and be heard above our own desire to always get the outcomes we want. You can’t impose tolerance top-down.

I can try to convince somebody else of my beliefs, but I should not be imposing.

If pluralism and academic freedom are to be used to defend liberal speakers and ideas, they ought to be equally valid for conservative views.

I respect religion and all people's ideas of it. I think everyone should be able to do whatever they want to do with their own life. I just don't particularly like it when people try and force their ideas on others.

I'm friends with people that probably would describe themselves as socialists and people that are much more conservative than I am. I can always find a middle ground.

I can't control other people, what their beliefs are.

To me, anything goes. But that's me.

It is very important to understand that pluralism is part of our system. We don't all think the same thing and part of our strength is that we come from different perspectives. We have to respect one another even when we disagree with each other. There has to be a spirit of tolerance for the views of others, while also being deeply committed to the positions we hold. If we do that, I think we can coexist and learn to love each other better.

A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don't seek a window on men's souls. In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life.

The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.

Most human beings who are accustomed to attempting to see the world from various points of view tend to be more liberal than conservative.

I have lived according to rules that I embrace, but I don't feel like my job is to force others to embrace the rules that I embrace for myself.

The supposed right of intolerance is absurd and barbaric. It is the right of the tiger; nay, it is far worse, for tigers do but tear in order to have food, while we rend each other for paragraphs.

When you tolerate intolerance, you're not really being a liberal.

Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.