"Why should taxpayers who live in apartments, perhaps because they did not feel that they could afford to buy a house, be forced to subsidize other people who could not afford to buy a house, but who went ahead and bought one anyway?" – Thomas Sowell
"In the end, more than they wanted freedom, they wanted security. They wanted a comfortable life, and they lost it all — security, comfort, and freedom. When… …the freedom they wished for was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free." – Sir Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)
“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The ‘learned’ usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” – Eric Hoffer
"Properly speaking, of course, there is no such thing as a return to nature, because there is no such thing as a departure from it. The phrase reminds one of the slightly intoxicated gentleman who gets up in his own dining room and declares firmly that he must be getting home." – G.K. Chesterton.
O praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise Him, all ye people. For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord. – Psalm 117
“We believe fear of infection will lead to drastically altered behaviour. It may be that swine flu does not tip the human fear scale sufficiently, but if it did, with the economy already in tatters, the results could be catastrophic,…” – Rob Carnell, ING’s Chief Economist, April 29, 2009
"Amateurs talk about strategy, dilettantes talk about tactics, but professionals talk about logistics." – Attributed to various American military officers, but most frequently to General Omar Bradley
“For a Westerner to trash Western culture is like criticizing our nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere on the grounds that it sometimes gets windy, and besides, Jupiter’s is much prettier. You may not realize its advantages until you’re trying to breathe liquid methane.” – Neal Stephenson
"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now." – Unattributed American Proverb
"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility." – G. M. Trevelyan
“If, [when] evil cometh upon us, [as] the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name [is] in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.” – From Jehoshaphat’s prayer, 2 Chronicle 20:9 (KJV)
"Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but …
"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders; no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way out for himself if society is sweeping toward destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. No one can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hang on the result. Whether he chooses or not, every man is drawn into the great historical struggle, the decisive battle into which our epoch has plunged us." – Ludwig von Mises, Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis, …
Here we live in a country that has a fabulous constitution and all these guarantees, a contract between the citizens and the government – nobody knows what’s in it. It’s one of the best kept secrets. And so, if you don’t know what your rights are, how can you stand up for them? And furthermore, if you don’t know what is in that document, how can you care if someone is shredding it?” – Frank Zappa (1940 – 1993), as quoted by Spin Magazine, July 1991
“The bulls will buy stocks believing that we have another bull market on our hands. After having lost 50% of their money since 2007, they’ll lose another 20% – 30% when this rally collapses. The bears, meanwhile, are convinced that there is worse to come. They think the stimulus spending programs will cause inflation. So they’re buying gold and commodity stocks sure that when inflation comes, it will cause mining and oil stocks to soar. Maybe it will eventually. But the first big move will probably be down. They, too, will lose big. That could be the Big Surprise of …