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

July 12, 2025
Do not let the ingratitude of many men deter you from doing good to others.
September 14, 2025
The organization of American society is an interlocking system of semi-monopolies notoriously venal
September 25, 2025
…that is the great fallacy; the wisdom of old men. They do not grow wise. They grow careful.
Page 23 of 122