Thursday, October 22, 2009

Words of Wisdom--Quotable Quotes

1) Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of
Congress.
But then I repeat myself.
.....Mark Twain

2) I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is
like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
..Winston Churchill

3) A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the
support of Paul.
.....George Bernard Shaw

5) Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting
on what to have for dinner.
.....James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

6) Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people
in rich countries to rich people in poor countries.
...Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

7) Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car
keys to teenage boys.
.....P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

8) Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors
to live at the expense of everybody else.
...Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

9) 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.
.....Ronald Reagan (1986)

10) I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the
facts.
.....Will Rogers

11) If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what
it costs when it's free.
....P.J. O'Rourke

12) In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money
as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
....Voltaire (1764)

13) Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean
politics won't take an interest in you.
.....Pericles (430 B.C.)

14) No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature
is in session.
...Mark Twain (1866)

15) Talk is cheap ... except when Congress does it.
....Unknown

16) The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy
appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.
.....Ronald Reagan

17) The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the
blessings.
The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.
.....Winston Churchill

18) The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the
taxidermist leaves the skin.
...Mark Twain

19) The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is
to fill the world with fools.
.....Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

20) There is no distinctly native American criminal class...save
Congress.
....Mark Twain

21) What this country needs are more unemployed politicians.
.....Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

22) A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong
enough to take everything you have.
....Thomas Jefferson

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Thomas Jefferson Encyclodpedia and the Jefferson Library report that your quote is wrongly attributed to Jefferson: "We have never found such a statement in Jefferson's writings. As far as we know, this statement actually originates with Gerald R. Ford, who said, 'A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have,' in an address to a joint session of Congress on August 12, 1974." Some other people have suggested the quote belongs to Davy Crockett. Neither Gerald Ford nor Davy Crockett attributed it to Thomas Jefferson.