If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life. - Henry David Thoreau
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.” –C.S. Lewis
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as “bad luck.” - Robert Heinlein
Many of us are hoping that all those in power fail, because those in power have a grating habit of being annoyingly self-righteous, hopelessly corrupt, resolutely incompetent and completely apathetic about the freedoms that they have sworn to protect. - David Harsanyi
Awesome quotes. I love the one by Thoreau from Walden. The whole chapter where he talks about people coming to visit him was pretty comical. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Ben | July 27, 2009 at 10:45 PM
You know, it's funny, I was reading this post again and I remembered that not too long ago I wrote a blog post where I quoted both Thoreau and CS Lewis in the same post. That's kinda weird. We must have the same tastes :)
Posted by: Quotes | December 08, 2009 at 03:10 AM
this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society
Posted by: vibram five fingers | April 12, 2011 at 03:42 AM
The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated
Posted by: vibram five fingers | May 30, 2011 at 12:50 AM
Me encanta el de Thoreau en Walden. Todo el capítulo donde habla de la gente que viene a visitarlo era bastante cómico. Gracias por compartir..
Posted by: abercrombie madrid tienda | May 02, 2012 at 04:46 AM
Ich las diesen Posten wieder und ich erinnerte mich, dass nicht allzu langer Zeit habe ich einen Blog-Post schrieb, wo ich sowohl Thoreau und CS Lewis zitiert im selben Beitrag. Das ist irgendwie komisch. Wir müssen den gleichen Geschmack
Posted by: ralph lauren femme | May 12, 2012 at 05:06 AM
Me encanta el de Thoreau Walden en. Todo el capítulo donde habla de la gente Que viene une visitarlo ère bastante comico. Compartir por Gracias ..
Posted by: nike air jordan 5 | May 25, 2012 at 03:20 AM
Den rövarbaron grymhet ibland kan sova, kan hans snikenhet någon gång ska mätta
Posted by: new era gorras | June 06, 2012 at 03:56 AM