Category Archives: Quotes

Quotes from my reading which may or may not have a bit of my own commentary.

The Real Intent – Quote of the Day

While reading the last essay, “Requiem for Man,” in Ayn Rand’s Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal I came across the following quote that I thought was particularly apt given that Obamacare has “gone live,” more or less, across the country.

This particular essay was Ayn Rand’s response to an encyclical from Pope Paul VI in 1967, which she summarizes as being “the manifesto of an impassioned hatred for capitalism.”

But, you say, the encyclical’s ideal read more

President Obama, I Think This is Addressed to You – Quote of the Day

I am currently reading Objective Communication, which is based on a lecture series by Dr. Leonard Peikoff about learning to think and communicate clearly.  It is quite dense in many ways so I am breaking it up with other books.  Among those other books, I just started in on read more

Quote of the Day – Hazards of Collectivist Living

capitalismsavedI am getting more into “How Capitalism Saved America.”  The topic in chapter 3 is the experience of the early settlers in what was to become the United States.  In both Jamestown and Plymouth a collectivist approach was initially used, where all the people in the colony worked “to support the colony and to generate profits” for the underwriters of the colony.

William Bradford, whose “ read more

Quote of the day – The effect of government spending

I’m currently reading “How Capitalism Saved America.”  I am still in the first chapter or so, and I came across an interesting quote about the effect of government spending on the economy.

Except for spending to protect property rights, enforce the law, and protect citizens from for an aggressor, all government spending crowds out private spending and weakens the vitality of capitalism.

Given this, it is easy to imagine what damage the government is actually doing to the economy, read more

Quote of the Day

Now that I have finished reading “Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000 Mile Diet” I am back to “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” and quickly came across this quote. The essay was written nearly 50 years ago, but it is still valid today.

The next time you hear a discussion of Medicare, give some thought to the future-particularly to the future of your children, who will live at a time when the best brains available will no longer choose to go into medicine.

I have read more

Quote of the Day – Need For Economic Freedom

After a few days of actually not reading much of anything, except a bit of the news, I am back to reading “How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present” by Thomas DiLorenzo.

This quote is from the first chapter and I have heard similar quotes in talks by Yaron Brook.  It is definitely something to keep in mind whenever you hear government officials say they will make things better by increasing taxes and regulations.

Any discussion read more

James Madison on Property

I am currently listening to a great course by historian Eric Daniels titled “Property Rights in American History.”  I am just finishing the first part, out of three, and he mentions a short essay by James Madison on Property.  The essay covers what property is and the government’s role in protecting it.  It is interesting to note how broadly property was defined by the founders.  Sadly the essay illustrates just read more

Quote of the Day – When Government Tries to “Save” Us From “Greedy” Businessmen

I am reading, among other things, “The Myth of the Robber Barons,” which is a fascinating book about  19th and early 20th century big business.  This particular quote deals with the government’s decision to build its own munitions factories so they would no longer “be at the mercy of identical bids from the “greedy and hoggish” steel companies.”

The identical bids were the result of the government’s policy of, after seeking bids from the three companies read more

Quote of the Day -Ayn Rand on Extremism

I am still reading Ayn Rand’s “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,” this time her essay on the art of the smear.  Once again I am struck at how situations she pointed out nearly 50 years ago are still present in our society today.  I am unsure whether this is hopeful,  if the same things are still being done then maybe we haven’t gone as far down this road as I might fear, or not.

This particular quote is referring to an interview given by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller read more