We are not in this world to change everybody and make them like angels. We are here to fish in the pond, not to clean the pond.

If guns kill people, do pencils misspell words?

As many would-be voodoo capitalists have discovered, great wealth is seldom achieved by simple imitation.

Any sufficiently advanced parody is indistinguishable from a genuine kook.

Why should we force people at gunpoint to do what only some of us believe in?

The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

Increased population density inevitably leads to increased problem density.

Civil disobedience is cheaper than open rebellion, more effective than self-imposed exile, and nobler than running for congress.

When Holk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications – in short, all the goo and dribble – he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out. "Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn't say one damned thing, and said it so you never noticed."

I’ve been observing and thinking about my daughter’s behaviour a lot, and my latest thought is this: at 21 months old, she appears to have two key drives that influence her thoughts and behaviour. One is to learn and develop, to do more, be more independent, to have more control over her actions and surroundings. The other is to co-operate with her parents and please us, earn our praise.

And so one’s job as a parent is to try to make it so these two drives don’t have to be in conflict with one another.