Milton Friedman

The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit. -- Milton Friedman

I believe that Milton Friedman is a very smart economist, but this seems like a very naïve statement. There are, after all, a lot of crooks out there engaging in exchanges that are not technically robbery but are such in effect.

Jonathan Swift

It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into. -Jonathan Swift, satirist (1667-1745)

I think the great Mr. Swift is wrong this time. It is not an easy matter, but reasonable people do sometimes overcome their prejudices.

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, novelist and journalist (1808-1890)

Every man possesses three characters: that which he exhibits, that which he really has, and that which he believes he has. -Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, novelist and journalist (1808-1890)

And it is the work of a lifetime to make these all match his true character, the character that God knows.

George Wharton James, journalist, author, and speaker (1858-1923)

What a pitiable thing it is that our civilization can do no better for us than to make us slaves to indoor life, so that we have to go and take artificial exercise in order to preserve our health. -George Wharton James, journalist, author, and speaker (1858-1923)

This seems an odd way to express this thought. I agree that the need to devise artificial means to get physical exercise is a peculiar feature of modern life, but James sounds like he thinks there is some kind of entitlement involved!

George Wharton James, journalist, author, and speaker (1858-1923)

What a pitiable thing it is that our civilization can do no better for us than to make us slaves to indoor life, so that we have to go and take artificial exercise in order to preserve our health. -George Wharton James, journalist, author, and speaker (1858-1923)

This seems an odd way to express this thought. I agree that the need to devise artificial means to get the physical exercise we need is a peculiar feature of modern life, but James sounds like he thinks there is some kind of entitlement involved!