"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." Marcus Aurelius

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." Dwight Eisenhower, quoted as "Thought du jour" in Social Studies in Globe and Mail July 11 2012

"In truth, it is a mark of faith to joke about one’s convictions. A man dances on a rock. He does not dance on a tight rope." G.K. Chesterton, quoted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 3 #8, July/August 2000

"cool as a trout" George Macdonald Fraser in Flashman in the Great Game

"Man must have just enough faith in himself to have adventures, and just enough doubt of himself to enjoy them." G.K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy

"No one can possibly say where the historian’s work ceases, and the journalist’s begins. The present is continuously in process of becoming the past: the frontier of history ends only with yesterday’s newspaper. A good journalist casts anxious and inquiring glances over his shoulder, and a good historian lifts his eyes from the page to look at the world around him…. Thucydides was writing not merely a history but an anguished record of contemporary events, in which he had acted and suffered…. Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World, was directing a gigantic and angry editorial to the subjects of James I." Paul Johnson The Offshore Islanders

"The reduction of uncertainty is a matter to which too little attention is paid." Brian Lee Crowley, speaking to the Institute for Liberal Studies "Canadian Property Rights" Conference in Calgary October 17, 2014

"Whacha doin'?" "Getting rich!"

"Really?"

"Yep. I’m writing a self-help book! There’s a huge market for this stuff. First, you convince people there’s something wrong with them. That’s easy because advertising has already conditioned people to feel insecure about their weight, looks, social status, sex appeal, and so on. Next, you convince them that the problem is not their fault and that they’re victims of larger forces. That’s easy, because it’s what people believe anyway. Nobody wants to be responsible for his own situation. Finally, you convince them that with your expert advice and encouragement, they can conquer their problem and be happy!"

"Ingenious. What problem will you help people solve?"

"Their addiction to self-help books! My book is called, 'Shut up and stop whining: How to do something with your life besides think about yourself.'"

"You should probably wait for the advance before you buy anything."

"The trouble is… if my program works, I won’t be able to write a sequel."

Hobbes and Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes June 1993