Posted on 07/22/2013 1:14:18 PM PDT by jazusamo
Random thoughts from wise thinkers:
"We shall not grow wiser before we learn that much that we have done was very foolish." (F.A. Hayek)
"Many respectable writers agree that if a man reasonably believes that he is in immediate danger of death or grievous bodily harm from his assailant he may stand his ground and that if he kills him he has not exceeded the bounds of lawful self-defense. That has been the decision of this court." (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Brown v. United States, 1921)
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." (John Adams)
"A human group transforms itself into a crowd when it suddenly responds to a suggestion rather than to reasoning, to an image rather than an idea, to an affirmation rather than to proof, to the repetition of a phrase rather than to arguments, to prestige rather than to competence." (Jean-Francois Revel)
"The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie." (J.A. Schumpeter)
"Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm — but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves." (T.S. Eliot)
"The study of human institutions is always a search for the most tolerable imperfections." (Richard A. Epstein)
(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...
” “Many respectable writers agree that if a man reasonably believes that he is in immediate danger of death or grievous bodily harm from his assailant he may stand his ground and that if he kills him he has not exceeded the bounds of lawful self-defense. That has been the decision of this court.” (Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Brown v. United States, 1921) “
Good timing, Dr. Sowell
Thank you! Random thoughts columns by Dr. Sowell are my favorites.
“There is no safety for honest men, but by believing all possible evil of evil men, and by acting with promptitude, decision, and steadiness on that belief.” (Edmund Burke)
This is the first time I have read this quote. I am impressed by how prescient and insightful it is in regard to America today.
AWESOMENESS BUMP!!
Amen!
"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be to-morrow." (James Madison)
I'd love to hear Madison's impression of "you'll have to pass it to find out what's in it" but I doubt it would be printable.
I’m sure it wouldn’t be printable. I’d also like to hear his impression of a Speaker that would utter such tripe, it’d most likely be x rated.
Also of Robert’s saying, when attempting to defend his decision re Obamacare, something along the lines that the people got what they voted for. I don’t remember the exact quote, but I remember how pizzed I was at his using that as an excuse for not doing his own job. He’s supposed to be part of the checks and balances, as our founders knew that the men who get elected to office are not invariably incorruptible and perfect, nor do they necessarily heed the wishes of the people.
Leftists believe that SOME men are superior and "good" and can be trusted with enough power to implement their "goodness" on the rest of us.
I freed a thousand slaves I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves. - Harriet Tubman
It is amazing that those people in the 1700's could so accurately foresee our future problems.
Sometimes I think that all of our technology has handicapped our ability to think. Blinded us to reality.
And that's how the Democratic party came to be.
"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed? We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against . . . We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted [Frederick Mann: Obfuscation of meaning is a key element of the con games bureaucrats and politicians play.] - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
That is from Federalist #62, which dealt with the Senate. He explained how a Senate of the States was essential to republican freedoms, how it prevented us from becoming consolidated under one government.
I hope there's a Zimmerman thread so I can use this... it's wonderful. I'll bet Sowell has a really great library in his home...
Well heck, they got that down to a science many many decades ago with the IRS, for the unadulterated goal of making all people potential criminals. It also works in that many Congressmen come from a law background, and as legislators retain the lawyer mentality that only those who speak their special language need understand the laws (that would be other lawyers, with whom they’re still in cahoots).
It was never supposed to be like this.
Do tell!
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