QUOTES OF THE DAY 1-26-12

The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one’s real and one’s declared aims, one turns, as it were, instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink. George Orwell

What’s “just” has been debated for centuries but let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn “belongs” to you – and why? Walter Williams

Gold is the money of kings; silver is the money of gentlemen; barter is the money of peasants; but debt is the money of slaves. Norm Franz

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists. John Kenneth Galbraith

The nation could be ruined, its democracy destroyed, and millions of people scattered or killed. Or America could enter a new golden age, triumphantly applying shared values to improve the human condition. The rhythms of history do not reveal the outcome of the coming Crisis; all they suggest is the timing and dimension. Strauss and Howe, “The Fourth Turning”

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it’s just the opposite. John Kenneth Galbraith

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers. Thomas Jefferson

Politics should be limited in scope to war, protection of property, and the occasional precautionary beheading of a member of the ruling class. P.J. O’Rourke

One man with courage is a majority. Thomas Jefferson

Once the principle is admitted that it is duty of government to protect the individual against his own foolishness, no serious objections can be advanced against further encroachments. Ludwig von Mises