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P. J. O'Rourke

P. J. O'Rourke Quotes

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“Seriously. It was running out at Rolling Stone. First of all, they didn't feel the need for a dissident conservative voice in a world where certain conservative aspects had become intellectually dominant. I would actually argue against that, but on the surface of it, in the [Bill] Clinton years the market economy triumphed, certain libertarian ideas became ordinary, and certain early-20th-century ideas about centralization of government and economic planning and socialism with a small "s" had obviously gone out the window. The Cold War was over, blah blah blah.”

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Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“The Road To Serfdom was written during WWII, and basically it's an anti-Nazi, anti-communist thing, but also it's an anti-Conservative and anti-Labor-party thing aimed at the British. He was an Austrian, writing in Britain. And I feel like now, I guess, everybody pays lip service to libertarian - and, indeed, many conservative - ideas, and yet they keep moving forward with an increasingly bureaucratic state. It shows itself in all sorts of little ways.”

WayFeelsWritingLittlesIdeasStatesShowsMovingPartyPayWrittenLaborLipsConservativeBritishLibertarianMoving ForwardBritainCommunistNaziKeep MovingKeep Moving ForwardWwiiLip ServiceRoad To SerfdomAnti ConservativeAnti Communist
Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.”

PeopleIfsShouldProblemCausesLibertyTroubleSocietyIgnoranceSourceDrugTestsAnd LoveFundamentalsDrinkingAddictionGreedIllStupidityLibertarianAlcoholAlcoholicsCocaineStupid PeopleDopeWar On DrugsDrugs And AlcoholDrinking AlcoholFunny AlcoholAlcohol DrinkingDrinking FunnyIgnorant PeopleStupidity And IgnoranceContrary To Popular BeliefLust For PowerPeople StupidityDon't Drink Alcohol
Book:Give War a Chance: Eyewitness Accounts of Mankind's Struggle Against Tyranny, Injustice, and Alcohol-Free Beer
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“Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”

InspirationalGivingHumorGovernmentFunnyPoliticsMoneyLibertyBoysPowerCarKeysHistoricalCorruptionLibertarianCommunismSatireLibertarianismTeenageBureaucracyGoverningWhiskeyFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyLimited GovernmentDemocracies HaveWhiskyLimiting GovernmentLibertarian PartyEconomic FreedomLimited FreedomMoney And PowerGreat LibertarianFunny SarcasticFunny PoliticalGovernment BureaucracyLimiting FreedomGiving MoneyGreat PoliticalCorrupt GovernmentGovernment And PoliticsGovernment PoliticsPower GovernmentCorrupt PowerCar KeysPower And CorruptionPower CorruptionMoney In PoliticsKeys To The Kingdom
Book:Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
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“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”

FirstsGovernmentPoliticalPoliticsLibertyEconomicPoliticianWittyCorruptionLibertarianSellingLiberalismBuyingControlledIronicLegislationFunny InspirationalGoverningFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyProperty RightsLegislatorsFunny MoneyLimiting GovernmentEconomic FreedomLimited FreedomPolitical WillLimiting FreedomPoliticians And PoliticsBuying And SellingCorrupt GovernmentGovernment PoliticsFunny PoliticianPolitical CorruptionMoney In PoliticsConservative PoliticalControlling Things
Book:Parliament of Whores-Open Mark
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“There is no virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. A politician who portrays himself as "caring" and "sensitive" because he wants to expand the government's charitable programs is merely saying that he's willing to try to do good with other people's money. Well, who isn't? And a voter who takes pride in supporting such programs is telling us that he'll do good with his own money - if a gun is held to his head.”

PeopleIfsWantTryingWellsGovernmentLibertyVirtueWillingPridePoliticianGunProgramEconomicsCharityCaringLibertarianSensitiveVotersLibertarianismFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyCharitableAdvocatingCompulsoryGovernment ProgramsWilling To Try
Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free.”

IfsThinkingInspirationalHumorCarePoliticalWaitingLibertyCostEconomicsLibertarianCommunismHealth CareLiberalismExpensiveLibertarianismFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyLaissez FaireLibertarian PartyEconomic FreedomLimited FreedomGreat Libertarian
Book:Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut
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“It is a popular delusion that the government wastes vast amounts of money through inefficiency and sloth. Enormous effort and elaborate planning are required to waste this much money.”

GovernmentEffortLibertyEconomicAmountWasteEconomicsLibertarianPlanningEnormousDelusionLibertarianismSlothGovernment SpendingInefficiencyGovernment Waste
Book:Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
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“One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license.”

InspirationalBelieveProblemTurnsIndividualResponsibilityLibertyFindingsDifficultyBlameLibertarianRemarkableFree WillDriversAnnoyingLibertarianismLicenseIndividual LibertyIndividual ResponsibilityAnnoying Things
Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“Collectivism doesn't work because it's based on a faulty economic premise. There is no such thing as a person's "fair share" of wealth. The gross national product is not a pizza that must be carefully divided because if I get too many slices, you have to eat the box. The economy is expandable and, in any practical sense, limitless.”

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Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“We're told cars are wasteful. Wasteful of what? Oil did a lot of good sitting in the ground for millions of years. We're told cars should be replaced with mass transportation. But it's hard to reach the drive-through window at McDonald's from a speeding train. And we're told cars cause pollution. A hundred years ago city streets were ankle deep in horse excrement. What kind of pollution do you want? Would you rather die of cancer at eighty or typhoid fever at nine?”

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Author:P. J. O'Rourke
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“We won't dispassionately investigate or rationally debate which drugs do what damage and whether or how much of that damage is the result of criminalization. We'd rather work ourselves into a screaming fit of puritanism and then go home and take a pill.”

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Book:Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
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