"Europeans believe in democracy - or, at least, in republican government - but they have considered the alternatives, and continue to do so, and that scandalizes Americans."

William Pfaff Literature See all quotes by William Pfaff →

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“America's problem is how to free itself from the grip of it's exhausted ideas.”

“Our culture is teleological-it presumes purposive development and a conclusion.”

“One cannot say that it will never happen again, or that it cannot happen.”

“The center holds; passion falls away. That is what happened ideologically in Western Europe over recent years.”

“It is one of the perceptual defects of Western government and press to assign Western-style motives to what people do in non-Western societies, as if these are universally relevant.”

“A great nation's foreign policy involves power, money, trade, oil and arms, but it proeeds from ideas.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Average Americans have little or no influence over the making of U.S. government policy. ... Wealthy Americans wield a lot of influence. By investing money in politics, they can turn economic power in…"

— Benjamin Page

Politics1939

#politics

"I think that public opinion today likes a certain amount of pageantry. It is a great mistake to make government too dull. That, I think, was the fault of the German Republic after the First World War.…"

— Clement Attlee

Politics1883–1967

#politics

"I didn't need this job. I ran for governor to find out if the American dream still exists in anyone's heart other than mine. I'm living proof that the myths aren't true. The candidate with the most mo…"

— Jesse Ventura

Politics1951

#politics

"Government subsidies can be critically analyzed according to a simple principle: You are smarter than the government, so when the government pays you to do something you wouldn't do on your own, it is…"

— P. J. O'Rourke

Literature1947–2022

#life