Quotes Library

April 25, 2025

Government…is simply not the channel through which men’s noblest impulses are to be realized. Its task, on the contrary, is largely to see to it that the ignoble ones are kept under restraint and not permitted to go too far.

George Kennan (1904–2005), American diplomat, historian. Around the Cragged Hill (1993), Jay p.203

Did you come to elective office to do good, or to do well? Have you sacrificed the former in the interest of the latter? Do you think Kennan read The Federalist as a student?

If you want to pursue a noble human impulse, join the NGO of your choice. *non-government organization.


More Quotes

October 23, 2025
Governments last as long as the under-taxed can defend themselves against the over-taxed.
May 14, 2025
Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right.
January 7, 2025
A secret in the Oxford sense: you may tell it to only one person at a time.
Page 116 of 123