Category: Quote of the Week

“Every collectivist movement rides in on a Trojan Horse of ’emergency’. It was a tactic of Lenin, Hitler and Mussolini.” – Herbert Hoover, Memoirs: The Great Depression (1951)

“Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are ‘one nation under God,’ and our currency bears the motto, ‘In God we Trust.’ The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril.” – President Ronald Wilson Reagan

"The economics of disaster commence when the holders of money wealth revolt. It is as simple as that. The government has little or nothing to say or do about it…They do not fly flags or demonstrate in the streets to express their revolt; they simply get rid of their money…The duller the holders of money wealth are, the longer the government can go on storing up inflation but, by the same token, the more cataclysmic must the eventual dam burst be. The Germans [of the early 1920s] were among the dullest and most disciplined of all holders of money wealth, …

"Beware of Geeks bearing clipboards." – James Wesley, Rawles (In response to a question posed by a consulting client about building permits and zoning bureaucrats)

“Do not move unless it is advantageous. Do not execute unless it is effective. Do not challenge unless it is critical.” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it." – Mark Twain

"Once again, recall the story of banks hiding explosive risks in their portfolios. It is not a good idea to trust corporations with matters such as rare events because the performance of these executives is not observable on a short-term basis, and they will game the system by showing good performance so they can get their yearly bonus. The Achilles’ heel of capitalism is that if you make corporations compete, it is sometimes the one that is most exposed to the negative Black Swan that will appear to be the most fit for survival." – Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Black …

"The best things in history are accomplished by people who get tired of being shoved around." – Robert A. Heinlein

“Today, prayer is still a powerful force in America, and our faith in God is a mighty source of strength. Our Pledge of Allegiance states that we are ‘one nation under God,’ and our currency bears the motto, ‘In God we Trust.’ The morality and values such faith implies are deeply embedded in our national character. Our country embraces those principles by design, and we abandon them at our peril.” – Ronald Reagan

"Frugality may be termed the daughter of Prudence, the sister of Temperance, and the parent of Liberty." – Samuel Johnson

"Globalization creates interlocking fragility, while reducing volatility and giving the appearance of stability. In other words it creates devastating Black Swans. We have never lived before under the threat of a global collapse. Financial Institutions have been merging into a smaller number of very large banks. Almost all banks are interrelated. So the financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks – when one fails, they all fall. The increased concentration among banks seems to have the effect of making financial crises less likely, but when they happen they are more global in scale and hit us very hard. …

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." – Theodore Roosevelt

"Unlike any other nation, here the people rule, and their will is the supreme law." – William McKinley

“A radical does not mean a man who lives on radishes,” remarked Crook, with some impatience; “and a Conservative does not mean a man who preserves jam. Neither, I assure you, does a Socialist mean a man who desires a social evening with the chimney-sweep. A Socialist means a man who wants all the chimneys swept and all the chimney-sweeps paid for it.” “But who won’t allow you,” put in the priest in a low voice, “to own your own soot.” – G.K. Chesterton, in his novel ‘The Innocence and Wisdom of Father Brown‘

“In a pandemic, if it’s worldwide, you realize in the first five minutes of studying it that you’re on your own” – Bob Kennedy