Quotations

Robert Reich, on Super PACs

The Browser — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:58:29 +0000

"Never before in the history of our Republic have so few spent so much to influence the votes of so many"

John Kay, on government

The Browser — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:14:12 +0000

"The very power that makes government an effective enforcer of the commitments of other people renders it incapable of enforcing its own promises"

Henry Ford, on innovation

The Browser — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:50:31 +0000

Henry Ford, on innovation

"Most of the present acute troubles of the world arise out of taking on new ideas without first carefully investigating to discover if they are good ideas"

Andrew Nathan, on diplomacy

The Browser — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:20:45 +0000

Andrew Nathan, on diplomacy

"American diplomacy is transactional; Chinese diplomacy, psychological"

Jacob Kirkegaard, on crisis

The Browser — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 08:53:01 +0000

Jacob Kirkegaard, on crisis

"The essence of crisis is unpredictability. The crisis that is confidently believed to involve no danger of things getting out of hand is no crisis"

Felisa Rogers, on aphrodisiacs

The Browser — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:39:11 +0000

Felisa Rogers, on aphrodisiacs

"Humans tend to get turned on by three categories of food: extremely expensive food, food that is risky to acquire, and food that resembles genitalia"

E.M. Cioran, on God

The Browser — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:48:57 +0000

EM Cioran, on God

"If truth were not boring, science would have done away with God long ago"

Karl Smith, on putting things off

The Browser — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:27:13 +0000

Karl Smith, on putting things off

"Kicking the can down the road is of its nature preferable, because bad things now are worse than bad things later"

Oliver Burkeman, on law

The Browser — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:16:45 +0000

Oliver Burkeman, on law

"If you'd rather not obey the same laws as everyone else, just make sure your objection is labelled 'religious'"

Michael Gazzaniga, on complex systems

The Browser — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:03:20 +0000

Michael Gazzaniga, on complex systems

"We can study cars and all their physical relationships and know exactly how they work. It in no way prepares us to understand traffic"

Mitch Daniels, on America

The Browser — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:50:05 +0000

Mitch Daniels, on America

"We do not accept that ours will ever be a nation of haves and have nots; we must always be a nation of haves and soon to haves”

Julian Baggini, on argument

The Browser — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:39:29 +0000

Julian Baggini, on argument

"The point of seeing both sides isn't to hover between them but to be able to come down on the right side with the right degree of conviction"

David Weinberger, on libraries

The Browser — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:43:00 +0000

David Weinberger, on libraries

"The smartest person in the room is the room"

Tim Vine, on domain names

The Browser — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:29:42 +0000

Tim Vine, on domain names

"Conjunctivitis.com. That's a site for sore eyes"

Timothy Snyder, on Germany

The Browser — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:14:30 +0000

Timothy Snyder, on Germany

"Germans are behaving in Europe as red staters do in America. They profit from the larger union they think they want to undermine"

Kenan Malik, on belief

The Browser — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:39:09 +0000

Kenan Malik, on belief

"No one comes to believe in God because they have been convinced by the arguments for God’s existence"

Malcolm Gladwell, on theory

The Browser — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:22:08 +0000

Malcolm Gladwell, on theory

"People are information-rich and theory-poor. If you can give them a way of organizing their experience, then their minds are wide open"

Aaron Bady, on knowledge

The Browser — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:45:59 +0000

Aaron Bady, on knowledge

"Anyone claiming to be an expert is selling something. I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires"

Leon Wieseltier, on browsing

The Browser — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:49:59 +0000

Leon Wieseltier, on browsing

"When you search, you find what you were looking for; when you browse, you find what you were not looking for"

Alex Macbeth, on parliaments

The Browser — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:36:30 +0000

Alex Macbeth, on parliaments

"The annual bill for operating the lower house of the Italian parliament costs as much as those of Britain, Germany, France and Spain combined"