In all things it is a good idea to hang a question mark now and then on the things we have taken for granted. Bertrand Russell
(1872-1970), English mathematician and philosopher
Category Archives: Quotations Freedom
Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense …
Hospitality consists in a little fire, a little food, and an immense quiet. Ralph Waldo Emerson
What about those rich people we hear so much about? Studies that …
What about those ‘rich’ people we hear so much about? Studies that follow the same individuals over time have found that those in the top 20 percent and those in the bottom 20 percent are mostly the same people at different stages of their lives. Not only does work pay, when you have worked a longer time, it usually pays more.High-income people are typically people who have reached their peak earning years in middle age. What does it take to reach the top 20 percent in income? In 2001, it took a little less than $85,000 — for a whole household! (This is a different Census publication: “Current Population Reports,” P60-218.) Thomas Sowell
May 2, 2003
I want, and I think the country needs, people who know how …
I want, and I think the country needs, people who know how to do things. The plain truth is that government is by nature inefficient. We can’t make it more efficient by selecting people who’ve always worked in government. The idea the Founding Fathers had was for citizens legislators, not for a permanent ruling class. In that I think I am in agreement with the intentions of the framers of our Constitution. Tom Clancy
Executive Orders, 1996
The great introduce us to facts; small men introduce us to themselves. …
The great introduce us to facts; small men introduce us to themselves. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Poet and writer (Investor’s Business Daily, January 22, 1999)
Senator, the thing we forget is why we’re here and what …
Senator, the thing we forget is why we’re here and what we’re trying to do. The government doesn’t provide productive jobs. That’s not what we’re supposed to do. … The job of government is to protect the people, to enforce the law, and to make sure people play by the rules, like the umpires on a ball field. It’s not supposed to be our job, I think, to punish people for playing the game well. Tom Clancy
Executive Orders, 1996
Whether great works of literature by Voltaire or George Eliot have been …
Whether ‘great works of literature’ by Voltaire or George Eliot have been published anonymously should be irrelevant to our analysis, because it sheds no light on what the phrases ‘free speech’ or ‘free press’ meant to the people who drafted and ratified the First Amendment. Similarly, whether certain types of expression have ‘value’ today has little significance; what is important is whether the Framers in 1791 believed anonymous speech sufficiently valuable to deserve the protection of the Bill of Rights. And although the majority faithfully follows our approach to ‘content-based’ speech regulations, we need not undertake this analysis when the original understanding provides the answer. Clarence Thomas
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in McIntyre v. Ohio Board of Elections, 514 U.S. 334 (1995)
A beauty is a woman you notice; A charmer is one who …
A beauty is a woman you notice; A charmer is one who notices you. Adlai Stevenson
I’ve never met a fourth-grader who didn’t have all …
I’ve never met a fourth-grader who didn’t have all the self-esteem I can handle. Can we teach how to have LESS self-esteem? Joe Bob Briggs’ mother
Teacher who taught 4th grade for more of her career (name unspecified), http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com, June 2003
We want exactly 100% of the companies to be excellent, to be …
We want exactly 100% of the companies to be excellent, to be the best representatives of the most promising industries. We have no time for non-excellent companies, in the name of diversity or anything else. So what am I saying? Am I anti-diversification? Well, no, not specifically. I am anti-dilution, and that is what many people tend to do in the name of diversification of assets. I am also perfectly comfortable with people who know a great deal about a specific industry to concentrate their investments within the best companies of that sector. The key factor is the level of knowledge, not the level of concentration. Bill Mann
April 24, 2000, fool.com