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Quotes At The Top Of This Forum

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The Wrath

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I'm trying to build a sort of "rational man's quotationary," using quotes from various philosophers, statesmen, authors, etc. I've got about 22 pages so far, some of which are quotes I have cut/pasted from the ones that appear at the top of this page. Is there anywhere I can go to see a comprehensive list of them? Also, is there anywhere where I can find citations for them?

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I'm trying to build a sort of "rational man's quotationary," using quotes from various philosophers, statesmen, authors, etc.  I've got about 22 pages so far, some of which are quotes I have cut/pasted from the ones that appear at the top of this page.  Is there anywhere I can go to see a comprehensive list of them?  Also, is there anywhere where I can find citations for them?

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.”

-Winston Churchill

Uh, speaking of quotes, why is unequal sharing a vice of capitalism? Does anyone on this forum really believe that the fruits of production should be divided up equally?

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I would be interested in either/both the Objectivism Online's comprehensive list of quotes and/or you list of quotes as well.

I had probably 18 pages before I started grabbing ones off of this website. Now I have 20-something, so it's added quite a bit and I'm not done grabbing them yet (I'm still sitting here clicking refresh over and over). I need to expand the scope of people who are quoted. I have a whole lot by some people but only one or two by others. I also need to get some good quotes from current figures like Bush...like him or not, the man has some great rhetoric about freedom and liberty.

Edited by Free Thinker
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How many times are you going to completely change the subject of the thread in order to criticize the quote in my sig?  In case you didn't notice, he also refers to misery as a "blessing."  Learn to spot sarcasm when you see it.

Forgive me. I thought your topic was about collecting rational quotes. I took Churchill's words not as sarcasm but a reflection of his general ignorance of economics. After all, it was Churchill who said, "Our whole nation must be organized, must be socialized if you like the word." Ludwig von Mises wrote in 1950, "It is noteworthy to remember that British socialism was not an achievement of Mr. Attlee's Labor Government, but of the war cabinet of Mr. Winston Churchill." It would appear then that Churchill chose the "blessing" of socialism over the "vice" of capitalism.

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Even if that's true, it's still a good quote, because it can easily be read as "capitalism is better than socialism." Churchill may not have been a great economist, but there are many great quotes that come from awful men. Quite a few of the quotes in my quotationary come from Bertrand Russell (mostly on religion), George Orwell, and H.G. Wells, all of whom were socialists.

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Even if that's true, it's still a good quote, because it can easily be read as "capitalism is better than socialism."  Churchill may not have been a great economist, but there are many great quotes that come from awful men.  Quite a few of the quotes in my quotationary come from Bertrand Russell (mostly on religion), George Orwell, and H.G. Wells, all of whom were socialists.

The quote is not bad because Churchill said it; it is bad because it states the opposite of the truth -- and there is no reason to suppose that the speaker, the architect of British socialism, intended irony. The unequal sharing of the "blessings" of capitalism is anything but a vice. As Ayn Rand showed repeatedly (and with the volume turned all the way up), the virtue of capitalism is that it rewards each person ad valorem, not according to his needs but to his contributions. No one who reads Atlas Shrugged can miss that point.

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I didn't miss that point, but I'm still not convinced that he meant it in that way.  I don't think anyone, even a hardcore Marxist, would refer to misery as a "blessing," unless he were being facetious.

Fine, then when Churchill imposed socialism on Great Britain in WWI and WWII, he was being facetious. Ha, ha, what droll humor!

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.”

-Winston Churchill

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Fine, then when Churchill imposed socialism on Great Britain in WWI and WWII, he was being facetious.  Ha, ha, what droll humor!

“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery.”

-Winston Churchill

I really do not understand what you two are going off on. If you both understand that Churchill was someone not to be admired, then you can (at best) understand that the aforementioned quote is simply what it is. Even evil people can speak truth. The point is that they don't live by it.

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(I'm still sitting here clicking refresh over and over).

Please don't do that. Go to http://quotes.rationalmind.net/ to see the full list. You can use my quotes on your own site. See: http://www.rationalmind.net/2004/04/24/ran...edy-capitalist/

Edited by GreedyCapitalist
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  • 1 month later...

well, considering that there are Winston Churchill quotes among David's list of quotes, even he had a few nuggets of wisdom.

I took Moose's quote of the vice of Capitalism being that which people complain about the most is the unequal sharing of wealth. The most comprehensive criticisms of Capitalism stem from people wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Then he turns around and identifies that same rhetoric used by the collectivists. That they would say "aren't we blessed by our togetherness!" as their world crumbles around them.

And you may have noticed the biblical quote in my sig. Well, thats to remind everyone here about the incompatibility of faith and reason (though I have contemplated removing it, as it doesn't seem to be necessary here.)

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  • 3 months later...
[...] there are many great quotes that come from awful men. Quite a few of the quotes in my quotationary come from [...] socialists.

Many individuals have mixed premises. That is one reason why individuals who are bad in some ways can have proper insights in other areas of their lives. Further, the most consistent of evil people know what they are doing and sometimes they put it into words that are true statements, that is, recognize facts.

However, another problem remains: Simply because another person (good, bad, or mixed) uses words that an Objectivist uses doesn't mean his words name the same ideas, that is, ideas which refer logically to the same facts of reality.

The only way to judge the meaning of the ideas named is to know the context, especially the underlying philosophy. If that context-setting philosophy is corrupt, so are all the statements based on it.

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Many individuals have mixed premises. That is one reason why individuals who are bad in some ways can have proper insights in other areas of their lives. Further, the most consistent of evil people know what they are doing and sometimes they put it into words that are true statements, that is, recognize facts.

However, another problem remains: Simply because another person (good, bad, or mixed) uses words that an Objectivist uses doesn't mean his words name the same ideas, that is, ideas which refer logically to the same facts of reality.

The only way to judge the meaning of the ideas named is to know the context, especially the underlying philosophy. If that context-setting philosophy is corrupt, so are all the statements based on it.

If an idea is good, it doesn't matter who said it.

What matters is the idea. Even if it comes from the most rotten creature on earth, it can be a pearl of wisdom. Whi cares who said it? If an idiot says that the earth revolves around the sun it's still true, isn't it?

In the end what matters is what you make of what you hear.

Even if the quote only is good if you rip it out of its context, then it's still good, even though it was not intended to be.

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If an idea is good, it doesn't matter who said it.

What matters is the idea. Even if it comes from the most rotten creature on earth, it can be a pearl of wisdom. Whi cares who said it? If an idiot says that the earth revolves around the sun it's still true, isn't it?

In the end what matters is what you make of what you hear.

Even if the quote only is good if you rip it out of its context, then it's still good, even though it was not intended to be.

I would agree with that ... and the opposite--that a destructive quote is bad even if it comes from a good person. Why use a quote that you do not agree with? I think the Churchill quote is wrong and misleading and should not be promoted. It doesn't matter who said it, except that some people may think that because it came from Churchill it has greater significance and for that reason alone I think it should be disparaged.

I personally do not understand why there is a need to be attaching random quotes to the postings on this site. Is there a reason for this practice?

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I personally do not understand why there is a need to be attaching random quotes to the postings on this site. Is there a reason for this practice?

This is not random. You choose which text is always attached to your posts.

This is a signature and you can do this too. Why people do it? I did it because it has been the quote that got me started to learn more about objectivism and therefore has a special meaning to me. Besides I think that this is a good quote and that people should see it.

In addition to that it allows you (like the picture on the left of every post) to express your individuality.

I like quotes and I see nothing wrong with using them.

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