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Cruel persecutions and intolerance are not accidents, but grow out of the very essence of religion, namely, its absolute claims.
— Morris R. Cohen (1880-1947), American professor of philosophy
We cannot extend our trade further than we are able to defend it. Rivalries that begin in commerce end on battlefields.
— Republican Party national platform 1920
It is necessary that the prince should know how to color his nature well, and how to be a hypocrite and dissembler. For men are simple, and yield so much to immediate necessity, that the deceiver will never lack dupes.
— Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), Italian statesman
The race of fools is infinite.
— Simonides of Ceos (566-468 B.C.), Greek poet
Absence of thought is indeed a powerful factor in human affairs — statistically speaking the most powerful.
— Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), American political philosopher
In every age liberty’s progress has been beset by its natural enemies, by ignorance and superstition, by lust of conquest and by love of ease, by the strong man’s craving for power, and the poor man’s craving for food.
— Lord Acton (1834-1902), English historian
The Twelve Good Rules:
1. Urge no healths. 2. Profane no divine ordinances. 3. Touch no state matters. 4. Reveal no secrets. 5. Pick no quarrels. 6. Make no comparisons. 7. Maintain no ill opinions. 8. Keep no bad company. 9.Encourage no vice. 10. Make no long meals. 11. Repeat no grievances. 12. Lay no wagers.
— Charles I (1600-1649), King of Britain and Ireland
I read in the newspapers they are going to have 30 minutes of intellectual stuff on television every Monday from 7:30 to 8 to educate America. They couldn’t educate America if they started at 6:30.
— Groucho Marx
War is a biological necessity of the first importance, a regulative element in the life of mankind which cannot be dispensed with. But it is not only a biological law but a moral obligation, and, as such, and indispensible factor in civilization.
— Friedrich A. J. Von Bernhardi, (1849-1930), German general
There are three ways by which an individual can get wealthy — by work, by gift and by theft. And clearly, the reason why the workers get so little is that the beggars and thieves get so much.
— Henry George (1939-1897), American economist
