Quotes

From Milton Friedman:

“Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.”

Milton Friedman, “Tyranny of the Status Quo,” (1984) p. 115

From Walter Willims

“The prospects are dim for a society that makes mascots out of the unproductive and condemns the productive.” — Walter E. Williams

From Milton Friedman:  

"Because it's always so attractive to be able to do good at somebody else's expense." 

Milton Friedman, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences grades the achievements of the Clinton administration and evaluates the programs the President proposed in his 1999 State of the Union address.  Wednesday, February 10, 1999 

Posted 8/7/2025

From Thomas Sowell:

  “Different people have very different reactions to President Barack Obama. Those who listen to his rhetoric are often inspired, while those who follow what he actually does are often appalled.”

 

From "Lady Cynthia Asquith: Diaries 1915-1918.  At the end of the war she said:  "and one will at last fully recognise that the dead are not only dead for the duration of the war.” She lost two brothers and other friends.

From Leonardo da Vinci:

"He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done"

While the quote is widely attributed to Da Vinci, and appears in various collections of his writings, including "The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci", some sources point out that it may not be a direct quote from his surviving notebooks, but rather a paraphrase or interpretation of his broader philosophy on justice and responsibility. Regardless, it is a sentiment that aligns with his known views on morality and the importance of action in the face of evil. 

From Adam Smith: 

Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent.  Adam Smith

"It is amazing how many of the intelligentsia call it ‘greed’ to want to keep what you have earned, but not greed to take away what somebody else has earned, and let politicians use it to buy votes."  — Thomas Sowell

Socialism is a wonderful idea. It is only as a reality that it has been disastrous. Among people of every race, color, and creed, all around the world, socialism has led to hunger in countries that used to have surplus food to export.... Nevertheless, for many of those who deal primarily in ideas, socialism remains an attractive idea -- in fact, seductive. Its every failure is explained away as due to the inadequacies of particular leaders. ”  ― Thomas Sowell

“The fact that the market is not doing what we wish it would do is no reason to automatically assume that the government would do better.”  ― Thomas Sowell