“Baseball may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials.” MayMadeCountryAgeFunSportsCitizensTraditionRootsBaseballHistoricalCongressDeeperOur CountryOfficialsSwingsFoundingFranklinPastimeElected OfficialsLettermanOld TraditionsBen Franklin Author:Evan Bayh
“I really don't like talking about diets.” TalkingDietsNbaNba PlayerBoston Celtics Author:Bess Myerson
“I'm not conniving - that has a pejorative context. I'm not sitting in back rooms making deals. That's not my style.” RoomsDealsStyleSittingConniving Author:Bess Myerson
“Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'” TwoEnoughTodayVoteThreatMereCurrentsDeterminedJust OneSenateSenatorsJimmyJimmy StewartFilibusterAll Nighters Author:Evan Bayh
“Words can hurt you. In the larger world, it frames how people think about you, and it can hurt you in lots of little, subtle ways.” PeopleThinkingWorldWayLittlesHurtSubtleWords Can Hurt Author:Nathan Myhrvold
“I was good at math and science, and I got lots of degrees in lots of things, but in a parallel universe, I probably became a chef.” UniverseDegreesMathChefParallelsMath And ScienceParallel Universe Author:Nathan Myhrvold
“Nuclear energy is a baseload - meaning it's power that you can run any time you want, day or night - and carbon-free.” WantRunningNightEnergyNuclearCarbonNuclear Energy Author:Nathan Myhrvold
“Risk is the sort of word that is easy to discuss upfront but tough to handle when it comes time to pay the piper. There will always be some who wimp out and second-guess when the pain hits, but that is a childish reaction.” PainEasyPayRiskToughHandleReactionsPipersWimps Author:Nathan Myhrvold
“Elections, for their part, are typically popularity contests rather than measures of candidates' relative competency or effectiveness. Imagine if scientific truth were determined according to which scientist was most popular. To be successful, scientists would have to be charismatic and attractive - and human knowledge would suffer terribly.” IfsHumansSufferingSuccessfulImagineScientistElectionDeterminedAttractiveCandidatesBeing SuccessfulRelativePopularityContestsEffectivenessCharismaticHuman KnowledgeScientific TruthCompetenciesPopularity Contest Author:Nathan Myhrvold
“A person's basic humanity is not governed by how he or she came into this world, or whether somebody else happens to have the same DNA.” WorldPersonsHappensHumanityThis WorldDna Author:Nathan Myhrvold