At least let no one argue that, because an abuse cannot be suppressed without injuring those who profit from it, the fact that it has existed for a time gives it the right to last forever.

[À moins qu’on ne prétende que, parce qu’un abus ne peut être détruit sans froisser ceux qui en profitent, il suffit qu’il existe un moment pour qu’il doive durer toujours.]

Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850) French philosopher, economist, politician

Economic Sophisms [Sophismes Économiques], 1st Series, ch. 20 “Human Labor, National Labor [Travail Humain, Travail National]” (1845) [tr. Goddard (1964)]
    (Source)

See Heinlein (1939).

(Source (French)). Other translations:

It is a rather singular argument to maintain that, because an abuse which has been permitted a temporary existence, cannot be corrected without wounding the interests of those who have profited by it, it ought, therefore, to claim perpetual duration.
[tr. McCord (1848)]

At all events, let no one pretend that because an abuse cannot be done away with, without inconvenience to those who profit by it, what has been suffered to exist for a time should be allowed to exist for ever.
[tr. Stirling (1873)]