“After the gleam of exaggerated hopes, what Kipling called the Gods of the Copybook Headings have come back to croak out their ancient saws, whose only merit is that they happen to be true.”
The Economist December 22, 1990
In my latest National Post column I say it was a waste of time for the Alberta government to commission an expert report that made trite suggestions, declared the situation complex and did not ask why good policy is so hard to implement.
“The main difference between capitalism and socialism is this: Capitalism works.”
Dr. Mark J. Perry, Director of Center for World Capitalism at James Madison Institute, in The Freeman June 1995
“The influence which writers of history thus exercise on public opinion is probably more immediate and extensive than that of political theorists who launch new ideas.”
Friedrich Hayek, quoted in appendix to R.M. Hartwell, “The Unfinished Agenda: Some Reflections on Completing the History of the Mont Pelerin Society”, September 1992
“Being for or against a natural phenomenon is a waste of time and mental energy.”
Michael Rothschild Bionomics: The Inevitability of Capitalism (which he considers a natural phenomenon)
“Capitalism flourishes whenever it is not suppressed...
Michael Rothschild, Bionomics: The Inevitability of Capitalism.
“It is better to play for nothing than to work for nothing.”
Adam Smith, quoted in Jan de Vries The Economy of Europe in an Age of Crisis, 1600-1750
“1st Officer Spock: Consider the alternatives, Mr. Scott./ Lt.-Cmd. Scott: We have no fuel! What alternatives?/ Mr. Spock: Mr. Scott, there are always alternatives.”
Star Trek “The Galileo Seven (1967)” quoted on imdb.com