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George Will

George Will Quotes

Columnist

George Will (born May 4, 1941) is a prominent American conservative political commentator, columnist, and author. He is best known for his syndicated column in The Washington Post, which earned him a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1977. Will is also a regular contributor to Fox News and has written numerous books on politics, culture, and baseball. His work emphasizes traditional values, limited government, and free markets, making him a key figure in modern American conservatism.

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Famous George Will Quotes

“I think if you'd had television cameras at Gettysburg, this would be two nations today. People would not have put up with that carnage if they saw it up close. We'd have elected McClellan in 1864.”

People Ifs Thinking Two Would Be Today Nations Saws Media Television Cameras Carnage Gettysburg Two Nations Mcclellan

Author:George Will

“Night baseball isn't an aberration. What's an aberration is a team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908. They tend to think of themselves as a little Williamsburg, a cute little replica of a major league franchise. Give me the Oakland A's, thank you very much. People who do it right.”

People Thinking World Giving Littles Night Team Majors Baseball Give Me Series Cute League World Series Major League Aberration Oakland Replica Williamsburg

Author:George Will

“Republicans define freedom as an absence of restraints imposed by government. Democrats define freedom as an absence of necessity, which government exists to reduce. America has not moved as far as it thinks it has beyond the argument about the New Deal, when FDR insisted, "Necessitous men are not free men."”

Thinking Men Government America Political Deals Party Republican Argument Moved Democrat Absence Restraint Political Parties Free Man New Deal

Author:George Will

“I don't think anyone has ever announced running for president that they want to change the Bill of Rights.”

Thinking Want Running President Change Rights Bills Bill Of Rights

Author:George Will

“There is no reason to think today's levels of [drug] addiction are anywhere near the levels that would be reached under legalization.”

Thinking Reason Would Be Today Levels Drug Addiction No Reason Drug Addiction Drug Addict

Author:George Will

“The greatest threat to civility - and ultimately civilization - is an excess of certitude. The world is much menaced just now by people who think that the world and their duties in it are clear and simple. They are certain that they know what - who - created the universe and what this creator wants them to do to make our little speck in the universe perfect, even if extreme measures - even violence - are required.”

Source: One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation

“A politician's words reveal less about what he thinks about his subject than what he thinks about his audience.”

Thinking Political Politics Audience Subjects Politician

Author:George Will

“A society that thinks the choice between ways of living is just a choice between equally eligible 'lifestyles' turns universities into academic cafeterias offering junk food for the mind.”

Thinking Way Mind Turns Choices University Lifestyle Academic Offering Junk Junk Food Cafeteria

Author:George Will

“I sometimes think that when he was at Harvard Law School, Mr. Obama cut class the day they got to the separation of powers, 'cause he seems to consider it not just an inconvenience but an indignity that, although he got 270 electoral votes and therefore gets to be president, he didn't get everything.”

Thinking Sometimes Seems School Law Causes President Class Cutting Vote Separation Harvard Inconvenience Law School Separation Of Powers Indignity Harvard Law School

Author:George Will

“It is extraordinary how extraordinary the ordinary person is.”

Thinking Persons Wise Positive Thinking Ordinary Extraordinary Ordinary Person Ordinary And Extraordinary

Book:The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory Notions

Source: The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory Notions

“Correct thinkers think that 'baseball trivia' is an oxymoron: nothing about baseball is trivial.”

Thinking Baseball Thinker Oxymoron Trivia

Book:Bunts

Source: Bunts

“As society becomes more complex and opaque, as social processes seem more impersonal and autonomous, and as elites of 'experts' become more annoying, more people are tempted to think that some 'they' is manipulating 'us', using, among other dark arts, advertising.”

People Thinking Art Seems Social Process Dark Complexes Advertising Experts Annoying Elites Tempted Autonomous Opaque Dark Art

Author:George Will

“Liberals think their campaign against Wal-Mart is a way of introducing the subject of class into America's political argument, and they are more correct than they understand. Their campaign is liberalism as condescension. It is a philosophic repugnance toward markets, because consumer sovereignty results in the masses making messes. Liberals, aghast, see the choices Americans make with their dollars and their ballots and announce - yes, announce - that Americans are sorely in need of more supervision by... liberals.”

About the Author

Born: May 4, 1941
Known for: Columnist
Quotes: 252

Related Topics

Government Political People America Ifs Baseball Politics President Should Knows Men Nations Said Thinking World Sports States Term Firsts Politician

Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

The pursuit of happiness, and other sobering thoughtsRelated source material

Suddenly: The American Idea Abroad and at Home, 1986-1990Related source material

With a Happy Eye, But...: America and the World, 1997--2002Related source material

One Man's America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular NationRelated source material

Statecraft as SoulcraftRelated source material

The Leveling Wind: Politics, the Culture, and Other News, 1990-1994Related source material

BuntsRelated source material

The Pursuit of Virtue and Other Tory NotionsRelated source material

The Morning After: American Successes and Excesses, 1981-1986Related source material

Men at Work: The Craft of BaseballRelated source material

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