Ninety percent of politics is deciding whom to blame.

In government and out, there are vast realms of the bureaucracy dedicated to seeking more information, in perpetuity if need be, in order to avoid taking action.

If you were starting from scratch to invent an instrument that could impose fiscal discipline, the last one on earth you would come up with is the United States government.

There is such a thing as tempting the gods. Talking too much, too soon and with too much self-satisfaction has always seemed to me a sure way to court disaster. The forces of retribution are always listening. They never sleep.

Everyone seems to be running against a liar, but nobody seems to be one. Odd - I mean, the math doesn't work out.

The forces of retribution are always listening. They never sleep.

Everybody's for democracy in principle. It's only in practice that the thing gives rise to stiff objections.