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Public Good Quotes

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Public Good Quotes

“In the absence of evidence on either side, the presumption should be against creating a new, legalized monopoly. The burden of proof should lie on those who claim, in any particular case, that the state should step in to stop competition, outlaw copying, proscribe technology, or restrict speech.”

CultureFreedomCopyrightIntellectual PropertyPublic Good
Book:The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind
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“There are seemingly parallel origins of Nature’s God in America and China’s Mandate of Heaven. These twin concepts created socio-political forces for public good and orderly governance, and a unique cultural ethos (related to the Creator of the Universe in America and the Son of Heaven in China) is deeply rooted in both societies. Each concept is physically yet stealthily manifested in the architectural designs of the two capital cities, Beijing and Washington.”

AmericaChinaGovernanceUsPublic GoodBeijingWashington DcCreator Of The UniverseMandate Of HeavenNature S GodSon Of Heaven
Book:Peaceful War: How the Chinese Dream and the American Destiny Create a New Pacific World Order
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“Libraries are models of gift economies, providing free access not only to books but also music, tools, seeds, and more. We don't each have to own everything. The books at the library belong to everyone, serving the public with free books. Take the books, enjoy them, bring them back so someone else can enjoy them, with literary abundance for all. And all you need is a library card, which is a kind of agreement to respect and take care of the common good.”

CommunityEducationKnowledgeAccessAbundanceLibrariesPublic GoodSocial ValuesCollective CareSharing Economy
Book:The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World
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“The fantastical idea of virtue and the public good being a sufficient security to the state against the commission of crimes...was never mine. It is only the sanguinary hue of our penal laws which I meant to object to. Punishments I know are necessary, and I would provide them strict and inflexible, but proportioned to the crime. Death might be inflicted for murder and perhaps for treason, [but I] would take out of the description of treason all crimes which are not such in their nature. Rape, buggery, etc., punish by castration. All other crimes by working on high roads, rivers, gallies, etc., a certain time proportioned to the offence... Laws thus proportionate and mild should never be dispensed with. Let mercy be the character of the lawgiver, but let the judge be a mere machine. The mercies of the law will be dispensed equally and impartially to every description of men; those of the judge or of the executive power will be the eccentric impulses of whimsical, capricious designing man.”

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Author:Thomas Jefferson
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“Common arguments for culture at a global level, such as creativity, diversity, and heritage, fail to take into account the significance of culture as the means to facilitate commitment to international agreements. In this sense, culture ought to be considered a global public good alongside digital and information.”

CultureGlobalPublic Good
Book:5 Ideas from Global Diplomacy: System-wide Transformation Methods to Close the Compliance Gap and Advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals
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“That humanity and sincerity which dispose men to resist injustice and tyranny render them unfit to cope with the cunning and power of those who are opposed to them. The friends of liberty trust to the professions of others because they are themselves sincere, and endeavour to secure the public good with the least possible hurt to its enemies, who have no regard to anything but their own unprincipled ends, and stick at nothing to accomplish them.”

MenEndsHumanityHurtLibertyEnemyRegardSticksInjusticeAccomplishProfessionTyrannySecureSincereSincerityCunningEndeavourPublic Good
Book:Characters of Shakespeare's Plays
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“Needless to say, under either system [socialism or fascism], the inequalities of income and standard of living are greater than anything possible under a free economy -- and a man's position is determined, not by his productive ability and achievement, but by political pull and force. Under both systems, sacrifice is invoked as a magic, omnipotent solution in any crisis -- and "the public good" is the altar on which victims are immolated.”

MenPoliticalForceAbilityEconomyGreaterMagicSacrificePositionAchievementSolutionsStandardsCrisisVictimDeterminedIncomeSocialismInequalityProductiveFascismAltarsStandards Of LivingOmnipotentPublic GoodFree Economy
Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z
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“That elections of members to serve as representatives of the people, in assembly, ought to be free; and that all men, having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community, have the right of suffrage, and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses, without their own consent, or that of their representives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, assembled, for the public good.”

PeopleMenUseLawInterestCommunityCommonOughtMembersEvidenceElectionPropertyBoundsPermanentSufficientAttachmentRepresentativesConsentDeprivedAssemblySuffragePublic GoodCommon Interests
Author:George Mason
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“Under the benignant providence of Almighty God the representatives of the States and of the people are again brought together to deliberate for the public good. The gratitude of the nation to the sovereign arbiter of all human events should be commensurate with the boundless blessings which we enjoy. Peace, plenty, and contentment reign throughout our borders, and our beloved country presents a sublime moral spectacle to the world.”

PeopleWorldShouldHumansCountryStatesTogetherNationsEnjoyMoralEventsGratitudeBlessingPlentyBelovedBordersContentmentRepresentativesProvidenceAlmightySovereignReignSublimeDeliberateBoundlessAlmighty GodPublic GoodArbiterBeloved Country
Book:Messages and Papers of the Presidents: James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and Franklin Pierce
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“Men who have sacrifice their well-being, and even their lives, for the cause of truth or the public good, are, from an empirical point of view - which scorn ("fait fi", Fr.) virtue and altruism - regarded as insane or fools; but, from a moral standpoint, they are heros who do honour ("qui honorent", Fr.) humanity.”

MenWellsHumanityCausesViewsMoralVirtueSacrificeFoolHeroPoint Of ViewInsaneWell BeingHonourAltruismScornStandpointPublic Good
Author:African Spir
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“Churches are tax exempt because they are supposed to provide a public good. To prove that good to the IRS, churches arent supposed to hoard their money. They are supposed to spend it on goods and services for the faithful. Under this pretense, the church has made massive investments in tax free real estate all over the world. And when it comes to labor costs, they are almost free.”

WorldMadeRealChurchCostProveTaxesLaborInvestmentFaithfulMassiveGoodsEstatesPretenseIrsPublic GoodGoods And Services
Author:Lawrence Wright
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“The Internet, too, has strong attributes of a public good, and has undermined the “private good” attributes of old media. Internet service providers obviously can exclude people, but the actual content -the values, the ideas- can be shared with no loss of value for the consumer. It is also extremely inexpensive and easy to share material. Sharing is built into the culture and practices of the Web and has made it difficult for the subscription model to be effective.”

PeopleMadeIdeasValuesCultureStrongEasyDifficultLossPracticeShareMediaMaterialsInternetModelsBuiltMade ItConsumersAttributesProvidersPublic GoodInexpensiveSubscriptionService Providers
Author:Robert Waterman McChesney
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“Planners and designers should encourage as much diversity in human habitats as they find in animal habitats. It is not possible to resolve all conflicts or to gain all ends. Choices have to be made. Different aspects of the public good should be stressed in different places. To achieve variety in land use patterns, there should also be a variety of relationships between the professions, not an institutionalized decision-making tree. Relationships between the constructive professions should, therefore, be deconstructed.”

ShouldHumansMadeDifferentEndsUseChoicesDecisionAnimalTreeLandAchieveConflictDiversityGainsAspectPatternsProfessionVarietyDesignerDecision MakingResolveConstructiveStressedDifferent PlaceHabitatBiodiversityPlannersPublic GoodLand Use
Author:Tom Turner
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“It is the duty of mankind on all suitable occasions to acknowledge their dependence on the Divine Being... Almighty God would mercifully interpose and still the rage of war among the nations... He would take this province under His protection, confound the designs and defeat the attempts of its enemies, and unite our hearts and strengthen our hands in every undertaking that may be for the public good, and for our defense and security in this time of danger.”

HeartMayStillsWarHandsNationsEnemyMankindSecurityDangerDesignDivineDutyDefeatProtectionDefenseRageOccasionsAcknowledgeAlmightyDependenceSuitableUndertakingsProvincesAlmighty GodPublic Good
Author:Benjamin Franklin
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“Republics demanded virtue. Monarchies could rely on coercion and "dazzling splendor" to suppress self-interest or factions; republics relied on the goodness of the people to put aside private interest for public good. The imperatives of virtue attached all sorts of desiderata to the republican citizen: simplicity, frugality, sobriety, simple manners, Christian benevolence, duty to the polity. Republics called on other virtues--spiritedness, courage--to protect the polity from external threats. Tyrants kept standing armies; republics relied on free yeomen, defending their own land.”

PeopleSelfChristianInterestSimpleVirtueDemocracyLandDutyCitizensRepublicanProtectGoodnessStandingArmyThreatSimplicityMannersRelyRepublicTyrantsImperativesSelf InterestMonarchyCoercionBenevolenceSplendorSobrietyFactionsDazzlingFrugalityPublic GoodYeoman
Author:James Monroe
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“My reason for fixing them in office for a term of years, rather than for life, was that they might have an idea that they were at a certain period to return into the mass of the people and become the governed instead of the governors which might still keep alive that regard to the public good that otherwise they might perhaps be induced by their independence to forget.”

PeopleYearsStillsIdeasReasonMightPoliticalCertainPoliticsTermForgetAliveReturnPeriodsOfficeMassRegardIndependenceGovernorsFixingPublic GoodTerm Limits
Book:The portable Thomas Jefferson
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