Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export. Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea; in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders. ~Thomas Sowell
#quotes #thomas-sowell #socialism
quotistThe problem I have with socialist utopias is there's some kind of committees trying to soften outcomes for people. I think that imposes models of outcomes for other people's lives. So in a spiritual sense there's some bit of libertarian in me. But the critical thing for me is moderation. And if you let that go far you do end up with a winner-take-all society that ultimately crushes everybody even worse. ~Jaron Lanier
#quotes #jaron-lanier #thinking #society #socialism
Even the Soviet Union, with its huge nuclear arsenal, was a threat that could be deterred by the prospect of retaliation. But suicide bombers cannot be deterred. They can only be annihilated; preemptively and unilaterally, if necessary. ~Thomas Sowell
#quotes #thomas-sowell #nuclear #bombing #terrorism
The first assumption of an art critic is that the artist meant to paint something else. ~Robert Breault
#quotes #robert-breault #art #critic
The fear among economists across the political spectrum was that we were rapidly plummeting toward a second Great Depression. So in the weeks and months that followed, we undertook a series of difficult steps to prevent that outcome. And we were forced to take those steps, largely without the help of an opposition party, which, unfortunately, after having presided over the decision-making that had led to the crisis, decided to hand it over to others to solve. ~Barack Obama
#quotes #barack-obama #government #economy
Under capitalism, man exploits man; under socialism, the reverse is true. ~Polish Proverb
#proverbs #polish-proverbs #government #capitalism #socialism
proverbiosSelf-respecting people do not care to peep at their reflections in unexpected mirrors, or to see themselves as others see them. ~Logan Pearsall Smith
#quotes #logan-pearsall-smith #self
All artists are anarchists in some way; some more extreme than others, but it is something that I think artists are supposed to do. We are supposed to present a different angle on everything, and I certainly think it is as much as poetry, in my opinion. ~Robert Zemeckis
#quotes #robert-zemeckis #art #thinking
I note that some whom I greatly love and esteem, who are, in my judgment, among the very choicest of God's people, nevertheless, travel most of the way to heaven by night. ~Charles Spurgeon
#quotes #charles-spurgeon #people #god
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb
#proverbs #native-american-proverbs #earth #environment
In today's world, it is shortsighted to think that infectious diseases cannot cross borders. By allowing developing countries access to generic drugs, we not only help improve health in those nations, we also help ourselves control these debilitating and often deadly diseases. ~Ron Wyden
#quotes #ron-wyden #medicine #poverty
U.S. exports to China have more than quintupled since China entered the WTO and have grown more quickly than imports. In fact, China is America's fastest-growing export market. ~Henry Paulson
#quotes #henry-paulson #economy #united-states #china
The right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon... has ever been justly deemed the only effectual guardian of every other right. ~James Madison
#quotes #james-madison #communication #free-speech
I'm a mad Gummi fan. I always have Gummis in my trailer. But you can't eat too many because then you get Gummi tummy, and that's no good. I can't believe I'm saying this. ~Jensen Ackles
#quotes #jensen-ackles #eating
I don't know where life's going, but soon it will be gone. I hope the wind that's blowing helps me carry on. Turn on the radio, baby listen to my song. Turn on the night light baby, I'm gone. ~Marc Cohn
#quotes #marc-cohn #night #light #music
We have different forms assigned to us in the school of life, different gifts imparted. All is not attractive that is good. Iron is useful, though it does not sparkle like the diamond. Gold has not the fragrance of a flower. So different persons have various modes of excellence, and we must have an eye to all. ~William Wilberforce
#quotes #william-wilberforce #personality
I think there's a side of me that's trying to compete with Lucas and Spielberg. I don't usually admit this publicly, because I tend to think that they only go so far, and their view of the world is rather simplistic. What I want to do is take whatever cinema is considered normal or successful at a particular time and play around with it, to use it as a way of luring audiences in. ~Terry Gilliam
#quotes #terry-gilliam #movies
God gave burdens, also shoulders. ~Yiddish Proverbs
#proverbs #yiddish-proverbs #hardship
Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies. ~Spanish Proverb
#proverbs #spanish-proverbs #flattery #truth
In 1950, American families sent 1 of 50 of their hard earned dollars to Washington; today it is 1 in 4. ~John Ensign
#quotes #john-ensign #50s #taxation #government #united-states
Nothing could moderate, in the bosom of the great English middle class, their passionate, absorbing, almost blood-thirsty clinging to life. ~Matthew Arnold
#quotes #matthew-arnold
It is true that traditional Christianity is losing some of its appeal among Americans, but that is a religious, not political, matter. It is worth remembering that the Jeffersonian "wall of separation" between church and state has always been intended to protect the church from the state as much as the state from the church. ~Jon Meacham
#quotes #jon-meacham #religious #christianity #politics #united-states
I think because both of my parents were essentially salespeople, and Italian-Americans, I always seemed to get along with people; I had a knack of finding something to talk about. ~Bob Colacello
#quotes #bob-colacello #italian
Some may claim that is it unscientific to speak of the operations of nature as miracles. But the point of the title lies in the paradox of finding so many wonderful things subservient to the rule of law. ~Elisha Gray
#quotes #elisha-gray #nature #law
For him and his brother, he now knew, that music was real. Because all you had to do, really, was be willing to use your imagination. And listen. ~Holly Goldberg Sloan
#quotes #holly-goldberg-sloan #imagination #music