From The Quotable Mises — surrounding passage

The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science , p. 59 Equality of opportunity is a factor neither in prize fights and beauty contests nor in any other field of competition, whether biological or social. The immense majority of people are by the physiological structure of their bodies deprived of a chance to attain the honors of a boxing champion or a beauty queen. Only very few people can compete on the labor market as opera singers and movie stars. Human Action , p. 276; p. 276

“In talking about equality and asking vehemently for its realization, nobody advocates a curtailment of his own present income.”

Planning for Freedom , p. 137 What those people who ask for equality have in mind is always an increase in their own power to consume. Human Action , p. 836; p. 840 The idea of equal distribution of land is a pernicious illusion. Its execution would plunge mankind into misery and starvation, and would in fact wipe out civilization itself. Theory and History , p.