From Human Action, Chapter 5 (Time):
However one twists things, one will never succeed in formulating the notion of “irrational” action whose “irrationality” is not founded upon an arbitrary judgment of value. Let us suppose that somebody has chosen to act inconstantly for no other purpose than for the sake of refuting the praxeological assertion that there is no irrational action. What happens here is that a man aims at a peculiar goal, viz., the refutation of a praxeological theorem, and that he accordingly acts differently from what he would have done otherwise. He has chosen an unsuitable means for the refutation of praxeology, that is all.
This passage made me laugh, because during an earlier part of the book I got up and started walking about the room, touching random objects, in an effort to act “irrationally.” I soon realized this was futile, and the irrefutability of praxeology started to sink in.
I’ve heard Mises described as dry and not having much of a sense of humor, but I remember chuckling several times in Human Action. Like the best economic writers, Mises is a pro at highlighting the absurdities of certain fallacies or unsound conclusions. The only rational response to such passages is a hearty laugh.
I still enjoy the Santa Claus principle.
I love how he doesn’t hold back or suffer idiots, like with the following passage, which caused me to chuckle when reading it for the first time:
Money, money prices, market transactions, and economic calculation based upon them are the main targets of criticism. Loquacious sermonizers disparage Western civilization as a mean system of mongering and peddling. CompIacency, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy exult in scorning the “dollar-philosophy” of our age. Neurotic reformers, mentally unbalanced literati, and ambitious demagogues take pleasure in indicting “rationality” and in preaching the gospel of the “irrational.” In the eyes of these babblers money and calculation are the source of the most serious evils.
I wish I could insult people with such devastating eloquence!