Bitterness, happiness and Browne’s resolutions

Of the Browne resolutions, I find this one particularly important: I resolve to cleanse myself of hate, resentment, and bitterness. Such things steal time and attention from the work that must be done. Related to which I’d like to resolve: I will not let myself be poisoned with negative emotions by things I view as [...]

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The power of the truth

“That which can be destroyed by the truth should be.” – P.C. Hodgell

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The stupidity button

Sometimes, Tyler Cowen is in a class of his own. Via Angus (and do read his snark on TFP), here is Paul Samuelson: Libertarians are not just bad emotional cripples. They are also bad advice givers. [...] When I see people writing sentences of this kind, I imagine them pressing a little button which makes [...]

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Neutrality in crisis

“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality” – Dante Alighieri [Edit: A reader points out that this quote is actually due to JFK, who (incorrectly) attributed it to Dante]

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The world is connected

“Many philosophers of the present day are convinced that every existing thing and event is logically unconnected with any other and could disappear from the world without necessarily affecting anything else. Such a rubbish-heap view of the world I cannot accept.” – Brand Blanshard.

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Blunting the inherent badness of governments

“India’s redemption lies in the inherent anarchy and factiousness of its people, and in the legendary inefficiency of the Indian state…” -Arundhati Roy.

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Astonishing insularity

“I don’t care what somebody on some college campus says.” – President George W. Bush, on hearing last week that more than 200 eminent economists had signed a letter expressing concern about the White House’s proposed bailout plan. (Hat Tip: The Agitator)

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We are entering interesting times

“May you find what you are looking for; May you come to the attention of those in authority; May you live in interesting times.” – Ancient Chinese curses.

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A rational examination

“The fact that we can become accustomed to anything, however disgusting at first, makes it necessary to examine carefully everything we have become accustomed to.” – George Bernard Shaw

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Frenchmen and math

“Mathematicians are like Frenchmen: whatever you say to them, they translate it into their own language, and forthwith it means something entirely different.“ – Goethe

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The great idea

“Once upon a time, there was a man who was convinced that he possessed a Great Idea.  Indeed, as the man thought upon the Great Idea more and more, he realized that it was not just a great idea, but the most wonderful idea ever. The Great Idea would unravel the mysteries of the universe, [...]

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Obama, skeptical of dogma

Barack Obama: I was always suspicious of dogma, and the excesses of the left and the right. One of my greatest criticisms of the Republican Party over the last 20 years is that it’s not particularly conservative. I can read conservatives from an earlier era—a George Will or a Peggy Noonan—and recognize wisdom, because it [...]

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The limits of liberty

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’, because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” -Thomas Jefferson. (Hat Tip: Aristotle The [...]

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On abortion at Saddleback

The general opinion about the Leadership and Compassion Forum hosted by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church on Saturday is that McCain won the night. Most commentators seem to think that McCain’s direct and black-and-white responses were more effective than Obama’s detailed and nuanced answers. The oft-quoted example? Abortion, of course. The question was, at what point of time does an [...]

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Where reason fails

“It’s impossible to reason people out of something they have never been reasoned into.” –Jonathan Swift

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