Liberalism Quotes

The hard-core intentionalist expresses only the most remote concern for consequences - usually, some vague, distant utopia. But this is, in most cases, a rationalization. His real satisfaction comes from a sense of doing the right thing - even when right has, in his mind, no clear connection with reality.http://www.libertyhaven.com/theoreticalorphilosophicalissues/ethics/moralityofgood.html

Robert James Bidinotto, essay: T

But I have to say this in defense of humankind: In no matter what era in history, including the Garden of Eden, everybody just got here. And, except for the Garden of Eden, there were already all these games going on that could make you act crazy, even if you weren't crazy to begin with. Some of the crazymaking games going on today are love and hate, liberalism and conservatism, automobiles and credit cards, golf, and girls' basketball.

Kurt Vonnegut

The liberals have not softened their view of actuality to make themselves live closer to the dream, but instead sharpen their perceptions and fight to make the dream actuality or give up the battle in despair.

Margaret Mead

The liberals can understand everything but people who don't understand them.

Lenny Bruce

I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means -- except by getting off his back.

Leo Tolstoy

As with most liberal sexual ideas, what makes the world a better place for men invariably makes it a duller and more dangerous place for women.

Julie Burchill

When anything goes, it's women who lose.

Camille Anna Paglia

If God had been a liberal, we wouldn't have had the Ten Commandments -- we'd have the Ten Suggestions.

Malcolm Bradbury

The Liberal State is a mask behind which there is no face; it is a scaffolding behind which there is no building.

Benito Mussolini

Why is it that right-wing bastards always stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity, while liberals fall out among themselves?

Yevgeny Yevtushenko

A man who has both feet planted firmly in the air can be safely called a liberal.

Proverb

The most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majority

Henrik Ibsen, Enemy of the Peopl

Liberalism, above all, means emancipation -- emancipation from one's fears, his inadequacies, from prejudice, from discrimination... from poverty.

Hubert Humphrey

A liberal is a man who is willing to spend somebody else's money.

Carter Glass

A liberal is a power worshipper without the power.

George Orwell

There are two kinds of liberalism. A liberalism which is always, subterraneously authoritative and paternalistic, on the side of one's good conscience. And then there is a liberalism which is more ethical than political; one would have to find another name for this. Something like a profound suspension of judgment.

Roland Barthes

Any attempt at a rational discussion of the economic realities of government-controlled medical care is almost certain to run up against the trump card of the political left: The Poor. The image that is often invoked is that of the elderly poor, forced to choose between food and medical treatment. Who could be so heartless as to abandon them to the vagaries of the free market?This has proved to be a very effective political strategy for extending government power, not only over medical care but also over housing and other sectors of the economy.The phoniness of this argument becomes apparent the moment you suggest that money be set aside specifically for dealing with the special problems of the poor, rather than bringing whole sectors of the economy under the dominance of politicians, bureaucrats and judges. The amount of money needed to take care of the poor is often some minute fraction of what sweeping new government programs cost. But, while big government liberals are willing to use the poor as human shields in their political battles, their more basic strategy is to proclaim that everyone has a right to some basic need that they want the government to provide. As a matter of practical politics, programs for the poor alone do not have as large a constituency as programs to give everybody some benefit, so that we can all have the illusion of getting something for nothing

Thomas Sowell, Jewish World Revi

Before we blame we should first see whether we cannot excuse.

G. C. (Georg Christoph) Lichtenb

I am also very proud to be a liberal. Why is that so terrible these days? The liberals were liberators -- they fought slavery, fought for women to have the right to vote, fought against Hitler, Stalin, fought to end segregation, fought to end apartheid. Liberals put an end to child labor and they gave us the five day work week! What's to be ashamed of?

Barbra Streisand

You just stood there screamingFearing no one was listening to youThey say the empty can rattles the mostThe sound of your own voice must soothe youHearing only what you want to hearAnd knowing only what you've heardYou, you're smothered in tragedyAnd you're out to save the world.

James Hetfield