War remains the decisive human failure.

In the usual (though certainly not in every) public decision on economic policy, the choice is between courses that are almost equally good or equally bad. It is the narrowest decisions that are most ardently debated. If the world is lucky enough to enjoy peace, it may even one day make the discovery, to the horror of doctrinaire free-enterprisers and doctrinaire planners alike, that what is called capitalism and what is called socialism are both capable of working quite well.

For the sake of The Progressive, I will say that [Robert] La Follette was relevant, but he was the last.

Inflation does not lubricate trade but by rescuing traders from their errors of optimism or stupidity.

We talk of the enormous virtues of work, but it turns out that that is mostly for the poor. If you're rich enough or if you're a college professor, the virtue lies in leisure and the use you make of your leisure time.

It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled seas of thought.

The notion that you would initiate a new product without preparing the way by persuasion and advertising and salesmanship is fantastic. It's an integral part of the system.