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

April 9, 2025
…it is a denial of the entire experience of the twentieth century
January 10, 2025
01:15
Books won’t stay banned. They won’t burn. Ideas won’t go to jail…In the long run of history,
February 8, 2025
The main advantage of being famous is that when you bore people at dinner they think it is their fault.
Page 35 of 63