“Society is composed of men, and every man is a FREE agent. Since man is free, he can choose; since he can choose, he can err; since he can err, he can suffer. I go further: He must err and he must suffer; for his starting point is ignorance, and in his ignorance he sees before him an infinite number of unknown roads, all of which save one lead to error. ”

Said in many different ways, in many different places, all accurate.

Not many writings have withstood the test of time as Bastiat's have. A very intelligent and wise man.

Its called "life". And the right to choose is something we should all cherish, before the "Hope and Change" crowd pre arrange our very existence for us.

Well stated, J Carlton.

Those who yearn for the safety and security of slavery will have their chance soon enough. The nanny state is a slave state forcing men to repeat old mistakes.

I'd definitely prefer to make my own mistakes rather than have the mistakes of the majority forced upon me. The mistakes of the individual have a much more limited range than the mistakes of those who wield political power.

Obama is fixing that problem for us. He is going to prevent err by removing the choice where ever he can.

Perfect! The other being SELF

correction: ...all of which save one... being SELF

Read Bastiat's THE LAW. Timeless Truth.

Man, if this were truly understood, we could eliminate 75% of government bureaus and programs.

Beautifully said....

Quantity ! is infinite, in forgiveness, such is the state at Liberty. Affliction and correction, by God's natural laws, the way of life.
Licentiousness Liberty, as Franklin mentions. What a concept !! The little hid truth of mercy. All trespasses included, as with iniquity as a whole. Most all, Christian secs refuse to acknowledge this Well known truth, ( rightly divided ), from the contrary. ! hence the term providing understanding of said, subjective doctrine. 2, the number of separation at natural law, provides distinction, like night and day. I suspect the light is going to get a LOT BRIGHTER. Bastiat, one of my favorites !