Sunday, August 2, 2009

Words of Wisdom from Wise Men

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

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Really enjoyed the jokes!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for compiling a great list of wisdom and witticisms from the past. This time around there are few checks and balances holding our government in check.
Congress pays lip service to representing the people while Obama and his handpicked 'czars' implement policy from the Oval office.
What was it Cardinal Biffi said about the Antichrist? He will be an ecumenist, ecologist, pacifist?