In my latest National Post column I say it’s ridiculous for politicians and commentators to claim the police are not answerable to the people via the politicians we elect.
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
This quotation is hard to source because it seems to originate with Roger Sessions in 1950. But Sessions said Einstein had said it "in effect" and since then it has been very widely attributed to Einstein because who ever heard of Roger Sessions (I hadn’t; turns out he was a composer) whereas Einstein’s the guy with the giant brain and hairdo to match. The Quote Investigator says while Einstein did express this idea at various times it is probably Sessions who, while deflecting the credit, actually created the concise, beloved and much quoted version above.
“Strangely bad reasoning: ‘God hasn’t stopped human beings from committing evil. Therefore I withdraw my faith from God and place it in human beings instead.’”
J. Budziszewski "Underground Thomist" email Feb. 25, 2019.
In my latest National Post column I say the possibly entry of John Baird into the Tory leadership race as a self-proclaimed “true blue” candidate who’s also modern raises the question of what exactly he thinks he believes… if anything. OK. Never mind exactly. Can we at least get a vague notion?
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex and more violent. It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
E.F. Schumacher, "Small is Beautiful" (August 1973).
BTW this statement is often attributed to Albert Einstein, an online quotation magnet (like Abraham Lincoln, who famously warned us "Don't believe everything you read on the internet just because there's a picture with a quote next to it).
“Suspicion: The most powerful reason why some persons want to coerce conscience – for example, to force medical workers who object to abortions to participate in them anyway – is to have as much company as possible in their own bad conscience.”
J. Budziszewski "Underground Thomist" Feb. 25, 2019