Unattributed
quotes are commentary by Dale F. Ogden
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Berkeley's Laws: The world is more complicated
than most of our theories make it out to be. Ignorance is no excuse. Never decide to buy something
while listening to the salesman. Information which is true
meets a great many different tests very well. Most problems have either many
answers or no answer. Only a few problems have a single answer. An answer may be wrong, right,
both, or neither. Most answers are partly right and partly wrong. A chain of reasoning is no
stronger than its weakest link. A statement may be true
independently of illogical reasoning. Most general statements are
false, including this one. An exception *tests* a rule;
it *never proves* it. The moment you have worked out
an answer, start checking it; it probably isn't right. If there is an opportunity to
make a mistake, sooner or later the mistake will be made. Being sure mistakes will occur
is a good frame of mind for catching them. Check the answer you have
worked out once more, before you tell it to anybody. Estimating a figure may be
enough to catch an error. Figures calculated in a rush
are very hot; they should be allowed to cool off a little before being used;
thus we will have a reasonable time to think about the figures and catch
mistakes. A great many problems do not have accurate answers, but do have approximate answers, from which sensible decisions can be made.
"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders." —Samuel Adams (letter to James Warren, 4 November 1775) "The struggle is always between the individual and his sacred right to express himself and... the power structure that seeks conformity, suppression and obedience."
"The real freedom of any individual can always be measured by the amount of responsibility which he must assume for his own welfare and security."
"It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people."
"There is in all of us a strong disposition to believe that anything lawful is also legitimate. This belief is so widespread that many persons have erroneously held that things are ‘just’ because the law makes them so."
“I just wonder if it ain’t just cowardice instead of generosity that makes us give most of our tips.”
"Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its own way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.
"The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of struggle... If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder or lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will..."
Activism is a way for useless people to feel important, even if the consequences of their activism are counterproductive for those they claim to be helping and damaging to the fabric of society as a whole. It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer "universal health care." There are few talents more richly rewarded with both wealth and power, in countries around the world, than the ability to convince backward people that their problems are caused by other people who are more advanced. No matter how much people on the left talk about compassion, they have no compassion for the taxpayers.
We came equals into this world, and equals shall we go out of it. All men are by nature born equally free and independent. To protect the weaker from the injuries and insults of the stronger were societies first formed; . Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community. Every power, every authority vested in particular men is, or ought to be, ultimately directed to this sole end; and whenever any power or authority whatever extends further, or is of longer duration than is in its nature necessary for these purposes, it may be called government, but it is in fact oppression.
To liberals, "compassion" means giving less productive people the fruits of the efforts of more productive people. But real compassion means enabling less productive people to become more productive themselves. That way, the poor have not only more material things but also more self-respect, as well as more respect from others, and the society as a whole has a higher standard of living and less internal strife.
"The president acted immorally. He acted recklessly. He acted disgracefully. He willfully misled the American people, the members of his Cabinet, his staff and his judicial system. In doing so, he brought shame and dishonor upon the office of the President and especially upon himself."
"No matter what, Bill, your girlfriend's ugly, your wife hates you, and your dog can't hunt."
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It should come as no surprise to anyone with a triple-digit IQ that Bill Clinton is a low life, pathological liar, and that he and his two-bit, power hungry, wife lie even when the truth might better serve their purposes. All he had to do in his deposition for the Paula Jones case was take a principled position (no doubt a first for him) and refuse to answer any questions about consensual affairs that he might or might not have had. His refusal might even have set a precedent that would have allowed others to avoid such harassment (in my opinion, such questions are a form of government-sponsored harassment and are far worse than anything of which he was accused). Instead, because he has routinely lied (and gotten away with it) hundreds of times in the past (including under oath), he lied again, under oath. If I lied under oath, whether it technically was "perjury" or not, I'm sure I'd be prosecuted, no matter what the subject or how insignificant the lie might be. I've testified before a grand jury and I didn't need to hire a lawyer (like all the Clintonistas did) to tell me what lies I could get away with; all I did was tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth (like the oath I took) and I didn't "forget" things like Bill and Hillary. Bill Clinton (and his troupe of apologists and liars) should try it. Clinton is undeserving of the Presidency. I believe he should be impeached; I don't want him to resign. I don't want to continue to support this low life and his crooked wife, neither of whom has ever worked an honest day in their lives, for the next 20 or 30 years.
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“Quackenbush deserves two terms; one term as Insurance Commissioner and one term in prison...and Karl Rubenstein should be his cell mate.”
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"The last company that had that kind of attitude toward me, I seized a billion-dollar operation [Golden Eagle Insurance Company] and sold it off back into the private sector because of just that type of attitude...I'd be very careful how you respond to me. Very careful."
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Random
Thoughts by Thomas
Sowell |
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“A
lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than an army of men with guns.”
Vito
Corleone, The Godfather, by Mario Puzo
“The
first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
William
Shakespeare, II Henry VI
“Government
Policy...if it ain’t broke, we’ll fix it ’til it is!”
from
a bumper sticker
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“In politics it is difficult sometimes to decide whether the politicians are humorless hypocrites or hypocritical humorists; whether in fooling the people they also fool themselves, which means that both the politicians and the people are stupid, or whether the politicians are smarter than the people and know exactly what they are doing. Probably the truth is the politicians are smarter, but not much smarter, and that both are without humor whatever.” Frank B. Kent: In the Baltimore Sun, July 24, 1932 |
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“I do not believe that any policies of the Clinton Administration or the foreign policy positions of any of the honorable members of congress (such as Diane Feinstein, whose husband has business dealings with China) have been influenced by contributions made by or on behalf of the government of Communist China either directly to candidates’ campaigns or to the Democratic National Committee. The Communists merely supported the candidates and the political party with similar beliefs. “Through a variety of means (like foreign aid and the covert activities of the CIA) the United States government routinely attempts to influence the outcomes of elections and meddle in the internal affairs of other countries. Why should it be illegal for the Chinese government to do the same here?” |
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“We have entered an Orwellian era in which entitlement replaces responsibility, coercion is described as compassion, compulsory redistribution is called sharing, race quotas substitute for diversity, and suicide is described as death with dignity. If you tell people you want to raise their taxes, transfer their wealth, count them by skin color, or let doctors kill patients, most will object. Statists know this, and therefore are obliged to obfuscate.” Theodore J. Forstmann, general partner, Forstmann, Little & Co. |
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And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
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“Any individual employed by the Internal Revenue Service, the California Franchise Tax Board, or any taxing authority of the United States, the states or their political subdivisions is an accessory to armed robbery. The vast majority of citizens pay taxes only because they fear the government. If they don’t pay their taxes, men with guns will come take them away.” |
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“All individuals employed by government, other than some (few) of those in the military and even fewer of those involved in law-enforcement and the courts, are worse than useless and ultimately are no different than welfare recipients. . .and virtually all welfare recipients are thieves. Thank God that most government employees are stupid and incompetent; otherwise, we’d have no freedom left.” |
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“It is only a myth that we citizens have the right to private property. If I don’t pay thousands of dollars of rent (they call them property taxes) to state and local governments, they will take away the house that I own. If I don’t pay hundreds of dollars per year in personal property taxes, they will take away the automobile that I own. And if I don’t pay tens of thousands of dollars per year in income taxes, they will take away what little bit of freedom their regulations have left me.” |
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Paula Jones’ Case Against Clinton “Millions of Clinton supporters still disdain Clarence Thomas as a sexual harasser. But a comparison of the Paula Jones and Anita Hill episodes suggests that the evidence against the president is far stronger than the media has let on--and far stronger than the evidence against Thomas.”
An essay in the November 1996 issue of the American Lawyer provides what might be the first unbiased (on the left or the right) evaluation of the strength of Paula Corbin Jones (cool initials, “PC” Jones) case. While no one but Clinton and Jones will ever know what went on in that room, it seems clear that they were, at least for a brief time, in the room together. Furthermore, based on Jennifer Flowers’ defense of Clinton (lucky Bill), I believe nothing happened. Unfortunately, those people who support Clinton the most made it clear to the rest of us in the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill incident that “Women just don’t lie about these things.” Well, guess what, women lie, too. And, unfortunately for Bill, everyone knows that he lies all the time. http://www.courttv.com/library/government/jones/staylor.html |