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Paternalism Quotes

Browse 26 quotes about Paternalism.

Paternalism Quotes

“But then it is easy, too easy, to sermonize about the dangers of paternalism and the need to take responsibility for our own lives, from the comfort of our couch in our safe and sanitary home. Aren't we, those who live in the rich world, the constant beneficiaries of a paternalism now so thoroughly embedded into the system that we hardly notice it?”

PovertyPaternalismSkeptics
Book:Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
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“Seeing myself or my church or my denomination as "the blessing" — like so many mission trips to help "those less fortunate than ourselves" — can easily descend into a blend of  benevolence and paternalism. We can start to see the "poor" as supporting characters in a big story about how noble, selfless, and helpful we are.”

PovertySelf CenterednessPaternalism
Book:Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People
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“The critical spirit rises up against itself and consumes its form. But instead of coming out of this process greater and purified, it devours itself in a kind of self-cannibalism and takes a morose pleasure in annihilating itself. Hyper-criticism eventuates in self-hatred, leaving behind it only ruins. A new dogma of demolition is born out of the rejection of dogmas. Thus we Euro-Americans are supposed to have only one obligation: endlessly atoning for what we have inflicted on other parts of humanity. How can we fail to see that this leads us to live off self-denunciation while taking a strange pride in being the worst? Self-denigration is all too clearly a form of indirect self-glorification. Evil can come only from us; other people are motivated by sympathy, good will, candor. This is the paternalism of the guilty conscience: seeing ourselves as the kings of infamy is still a way of staying on the crest of history.”

AmericaEvilEuropeCriticismGuiltWhitesSelf HatredPaternalismMoroseness
Book:The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism
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“...if I were an angel of the Lord, I would mark the doors of each of my children's homes with an X, so that plague and misfortune would pass over them. Alas, I lack the qualifications. So when there was still world and time enough I fretted. I nagged. I corrected. I got everything wrong.”

MotherhoodFatherhoodFrettingConcern For OthersWorry QuotesMaternal LovePaternalismFretPaternal LoveMaternalismBabies Kids Children GivingupPaternal ProtectionProtect My Sleeping Babes
Book:Barney's Version
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“[M]ore than they wanted freedom, the Athenians wanted security. Yet they lost everything-security, comfort, and freedom. This was because they wanted not to give to society, but for society to give to them. The freedom they were seeking was freedom from responsibility. It is no wonder, then, that they ceased to be free. In the modern world, we should recall the Athenians' dire fate whenever we confront demands for increased state paternalism.”

WorldGivingShouldStatesWantedLostResponsibilityWonderFateModernSecurityComfortDemandSeekingRecallsModern WorldLost EverythingAtheniansPaternalism
Author:Margaret Thatcher
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“There is much in American society which I admire, but I have long held the view that the absence of an effective safety net in that country means that too many needy citizens fall by the wayside. That is not the path that Australia will tread. Nor do we want the burdens of nanny state paternalism that now weigh down many economies in Europe.”

WantMeanLongCountryStatesFallViewsEconomyPathCitizensEuropeSafetyBurdenAbsenceAdmireAustraliaNeedyAmerican SocietySafety NetNanniesPaternalism
Author:John Howard
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“The truth is that the materialistic paternalism of the present day, if allowed to go on unchecked, will rapidly make of America one huge "Main Street," where spiritual adventure will be discouraged and democracy will be regarded as consisting in the reduction of all mankind to the proportions of the narrowest and least gifted of the citizens. God grant that there may come a reaction, and that the great principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty may be rediscovered before it is too late!”

IfsMayAmericaSpiritualLibertyPrinciplesDemocracyStreetsMankindAdventureHugeGoes OnCitizensTruth IsLateReactionsProportionToo LateGrantsGiftedDiscouragedReductionMaterialisticPresent DayMain StreetAnglo SaxonPaternalism
Author:John Gresham Machen
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“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not sufficient warrant.”

WarPurposeCommunityLibertyMoralPowerMembersHarmLibertarianSufficientCivilizedAnti WarAntiwarLibertarianismFreedom And LibertyFreedom LibertyProperty RightsLimited GovernmentWarrantsFree GovernmentRights And FreedomsLibertarian PartyLimited FreedomPhysical ForceUtilitarianismPower Over OthersHarming OthersPaternalismForce And Power
Author:John Stuart Mill
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“The politics of that year [2004] are old now, but the problem remains the same, the real culture clash of American life. It's between the essence of fundamentalism - paternalism, authority, and charity - and the messy imperatives of democracy, "the din of the vox populi" once derided by Abram Vereide. It's the difference between false unity, preached from above, and real solidarity, pledged between brothers and sisters - the kinds who are always bickering.”

YearsKindRealProblemCultureDifferencesDemocracyBrotherAuthorityEthicsEssenceRemainsUnityCharitySolidarityFundamentalismCitizenshipBrothers And SistersImperativesMessyClashAmerican LifeBickeringAbramPaternalismVox Populi
Author:Jeff Sharlet
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“We may as well face the fact, and face it squarely, that we are too much governed. The agencies of government have multiplied, their ramifications extended, their powers enlarged, and their sphere widened, until the whole system is top-heavy. We are drifting into dangerous and insidious paternalism, submerging the self-reliance of the citizen, and weakening the responsibility and stifling the initiative of the individual. We suffer not from too little legislation but from too much. We need fewer enactments and more repeals.”

NeedsWellsMayLittlesSelfWholeFactsGovernmentFacesSufferingIndividualResponsibilityToo MuchDangerousCitizensHeavyAgencySpheresFewerInitiativeLegislationSelf RelianceRelianceDriftingInsidiousWeakeningStiflingRamificationsPaternalism
Author:Roland H. Hartley
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“We should know why paternalism, collectivism, or unnecessary federal supervision will hold our standard of living down and reduce productivity just as it has in every country where it has been tried. We should also know why the communist leaders consider socialism the highroad to communism.”

KnowsShouldHas BeensCountryLeaderStandardsConstitutionDown AndProductivitySocialismCommunismCommunistUnnecessaryCollectivismStandards Of LivingSupervisionPaternalismCommunist Leaders
Book:God, family, country: our three great loyalties
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