In the United States, though power corrupts, the expectation of power paralyzes.

Politics is the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.

Originality is something that is easily exaggerated, especially by authors contemplating their own work.

Preservationists are the only people in the world who are invariably confirmed in their wisdom after the fact.

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full, for, while it is a time of great tragedy, nothing is being lost but money.

There's no question that in my lifetime, the contrast between what I called private affluence and public squalor has become very much greater. What do we worry about? We worry about our schools. We worry about our public recreational facilities. We worry about our law enforcement and our public housing. All of the things that bear upon our standard of living are in the public sector.

There is an enormous thrust in our time to have a simple answer. And that simple answer is that all depends on Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve. And Alan, who is an old acquaintance of mine, is a marvelous performer in the impression he gives of enormously great perception.