Archive for Leonard E. Read

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Glory Be!

Leonard E. Read founded the Foundation for Economic Education in 1946 and served as its President until his death in 1983. He was a philosopher, teacher, and exemplar. This article was adapted from the December 1978 Freeman.
True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and [...]

1Dec1990 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Penalty of Surrender

Editors’ Note:
Leonard E. Read founded The Foundation for Economic Education in 1946 and served as its President until his death in 1983. He was a philosopher, teacher, and exemplar.
It is difficult to measure the full influence of Leonard Read. He wrote more than two dozen books and hundreds of articles, delivered over a [...]

1Sep1988 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

How to Gain Liberty

Leonard E. Read was the founder of The Foundation for Economic Education in 1946, and its president until his death in 1983, This article was first published in 1955,
How can we best achieve a free society? Self-improvement is the only answer.
“I want less talk and more action.”
Thus speak Americans when they suddenly [...]

1Jan1986 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

A Page on Freedom: Number 21

Legalized Plunder
What are we to think of those who have a libertarian bent, of those who pay lip service to the free society, and then go on to assert, “We’re paying for it, so we might as well get our share.” What sincerity or depth can be ascribed to their lip service? Do not [...]

1Jul1985 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

A Page on Freedom: Number 19

Security and Freedom
Many Victims wander unwittingly into socialism, gulled by assumptions they have not tested. One popular but misleading assumption is that security and freedom are mutually exclusive alternatives—that to choose one is to forgo the other.
In the United States during the past century more people achieved greater material security than their ancestors [...]

1May1985 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

I, Pencil

From The Freeman, December 1958.
I am a lead pencil—the ordinary wooden pencil familiar to all boys and girls and adults who can read and write.*

* My official name is “Mongol 482.” My many ingredients are assembled, fabricated, and finished by Eberhard Faber Pencil Company, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Writing is both my vocation and my avocation; that’s [...]

1Nov1983 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Glory Be!

True glory consists of the service of truth and freedom.

1Dec1978 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

The School of Mankind

The power of example in teaching and learning.

1Sep1975 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Thank God for the Mess We’re In

The mess is a timely warning to change course if we would avert disaster.

1Mar1975 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Those Things Called Money

Why not leave decisions about money to the fantastic wisdom of the market?

1Jan1975 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Castles in the Air

Progress comes as men put foundations under worthy dreams.

1Nov1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Laws Versus Tyranny

Obedience to the moral law brings peace and harmony.

1Oct1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

Reflections on Gullibility

The better we see our blessings the less vulnerable we are to “costless” panaceas.

1Sep1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

The Rare Moment

The problem is to see a better idea, and then pursue it with integrity.

1Jul1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

The Blessings of Diversity

Were all alike, instead of free, t’would mean the end of me and thee.

1May1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued

The Sanctifying of Plunder

Let the law defend the rightful owner of property rather than the thief.

1Apr1974 | Leonard E. Read | 4 comments | Continued

Strive for the Simple Life

Far simpler to live in an advanced exchange economy than to make one’s way alone at the frontier.

1Mar1974 | Leonard E. Read | 0 comments | Continued