Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the read more

Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the reflexive, and are ignorant and unreasonable by simple nature. We must learn to be free, to organize the random and detect the reflexive, to acquire the knowledge of particulars and the powers of reason. The examined life is impossible if we cannot examine, order, classify, define, distinguish, always in minute particulars.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If read more

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

I'd rather keep my promises to other politicians than to God. God, at least, has a degree of forgiveness.

I'd rather keep my promises to other politicians than to God. God, at least, has a degree of forgiveness.

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act read more

The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups.

I'm proud that I'm a politician. A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to read more

I'm proud that I'm a politician. A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead 10 or 15 years.

I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty.

I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty.

We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor read more

We treat our people like royalty. If you honor and serve the people who work for you, they will honor and serve you.

I ask you to join in a re-United States. We need to empower our people so they can take more read more

I ask you to join in a re-United States. We need to empower our people so they can take more responsibility for their own lives in a world that is ever smaller, where everyone counts. We need a new spirit of community, a sense that we are all in this together, or the American Dream will continue to wither. Our destiny is bound up with the destiny of every other American.

What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If read more

What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If that theory is accepted, we must abandon the notion that democratic government can be the direct expression of the will of the people. We must abandon the notion that the people govern. Instead we must adopt the theory that, by their occasional mobilizations as a majority, people support or oppose the individuals who actually govern. We must say that the popular will does not direct continuously but that it intervenes occasionally.