"Most apparent conspiracies result from consistent local self-interest with no need for global coordination."

Patri Friedman Politics See all quotes by Patri Friedman →

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“A scientist can be tactful and PC with his mouth, but not his ears or eyes and certainly not his mind. Truth must reign there above all. For your first allegiance is either to Truth or to Ignorance. Worry about offending, and you are choosing Ignorance.”

“We do not live in a world that mainly suffers bad policies due to lack of ideas about better ones, or lack of elegant explanations supporting good policies, but one that suffers bad policies due to system and meta-system level incentives.”

Resonant Thoughts

"I wish you all sorts of prosperity with a little more taste."

— Alain-René Lesage

Literature1715–1735

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"I remember when humor was gentle pokes. I used to call it 'arm around the shoulder' humor. Now they go for the jugular and they take no prisoners. It's mean, mean stuff."

— Robert Orben

Literature1928–2023

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"It used to be fashionable for authors to have their pictures taken with dogs, but the dogs always looked like models hired from an advertising agency, and probably were."

— Robertson Davies

Literature1913–1995

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"Work almost always has a double aspect: it is a bondage, a wearisome drudgery; but it is also a source of interest, a steadying element, a factor that helps to integrate the worker with society. Retir…"

— Simone de Beauvoir

Philosophy1908–1986

#philosophy