Eloquent. Extraordinary. Timeless. Paradigm-shifting. Classic. Six decades after it first appeared, Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil” evokes such adjectives of praise. Rightfully so, for this little essay opens eyes and minds among people of all ages. Many first-time readers never see the world quite the same again.

“Private property ownership is a staple of our American way of life and the cornerstone of peace and prosperity. It is the manifestation of individual rights, and no one, whether government entity or private, has the right to what someone else already owns” — Brittany Hunter.

“Premiums doubled in the first four years of Obamacare. Last year, the average monthly premium for individual insurance was $476 per person per month in the 39 states participating in HealthCare.gov. But while premiums have gone up, choices have gone down” — Genevieve Wood.

Parents are increasingly required to obey, to conform to a school’s demands even if they believe such orders may not be appropriate for their child — Kerry McDonald.

“Today’s cultural vandals can look back for inspiration to the 20th century. In the atheist Soviet Union, the Communists got rid of St. Nicholas and replaced him with the secular “Grandfather Frost.” In 1938, when Germany’s Nazis annexed Austria, one of the first things they did was to ban Christmas observances in public schools” — Robert Knight.

“If [Congresswoman-elect] Ocasio-Cortez cared about her constituents, she might take time to learn how entrepreneurs, with the freedom to use resources to serve consumers, have lifted billions out of poverty in the past few centuries” — Barry Brownstein.

“An entire generation has grown up never knowing such things as the Soviet gulags or even the Berlin Wall. Indeed, it’s been more than a full generation since communism existentially threatened sustained violence on a global scale” — Bradley J. Birzer.

“As a resident of China and a recipient of outstanding private health care here, I was confused as to why the Times would show us the horrors of a capitalist system without actually visiting a private health care facility” — Sarah Lilley. It’s easy: They learn how to lie in tax-supported, left-wing journalism schools in American universities.

“He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings, and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.”

Universal human rights have not been fully attained, yet radical environmentalists insist that flora, fauna and even geological features and structures should be deemed legal persons, a meme known as “nature rights” — Wesley J. Smith.

“Nearly two-thirds of the Venezuelan economy disappeared in the 20 years of Chavismo power. It was socialism: pillaging of the private economy as state policy” — Guillermo Rodridguez Gonzalez.

“…[T]he current battle being waged over free trade in most developed countries, and especially in America, illustrates once again that to be pro-market isn’t the same thing as being pro-business” — Samuel Gregg from the Acton Institute.

“As one who spent time in many socialist countries both before and after the reforms, spoke with many of the victims and saw the direct evidence of the misery socialism wrought, it appalls me that there are people who claim to be educated are endorsing this despicable ideology” — economist Richard Rahn.

Joy Pullman explains that “the evidence indicates that at best Common Core made negligible improvements, and at worst it’s reduced student achievement, all while soaking up huge amounts of time and money.”

“The tragedy is that Democratic Socialists are blind to both logic and history as they try once again to peddle to the public an experiment that has already failed far too often” — Richard Epstein.

Rose Wilder Lane is an often-overlooked figure who lies at the heart of modern American politics.

“We are witnessing in our day nothing less than the liberation of millions of Brazilian minds” — Rafael Ribeiro.

The refugees have complex motivations, but the vast majority simply want to see everything socialism has to offer after suffering the amazing benefits of capitalism for too long.

The bottom line is that there’s a very meaningful link between economic liberty and national prosperity — Dan Mitchell.

“Capitalism and liberal democracy are far from perfect, but they do allow room for what John Stuart Mill called ‘experiments in living,’ where socialists, libertarians, and everyone else in between can pursue their idea of the good life. And that's a society worth defending from the reactionaries who out of ignorance or malice call themselves freedom fighters” — Matthew Harwood at Reason.com.