The profession of shaman has many advantages. It offers high status with a safe livelihood free of work in the dreary, sweaty sense. In most societies it offers legal privileges and immunities not granted to other men. But it is hard to see how a man who has been given a mandate from on High to spread tidings of joy to all mankind can be seriously interested in taking up a collection to pay his salary; it causes one to suspect that the shaman is on the moral level of any other con man. But it is a lovely work if you can stomach it.
Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost.
A religion is a source of happiness and I would not deprive anyone of happiness. But it is a comfort appropriate for the weak, not for the strong--and you are strong. The great trouble with religion--any religion--is that the religionist, having accepted certain propositions by faith, cannot thereafter judge these propositions by evidence. One may bask at the warm fire of faith or choose to live in the bleak uncertainty of reason--but one cannot have both.
If a grasshopper tries to fight a lawnmower, one may admire his courage but not his judgement.
A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.
History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.
You're in bad shape when your emotions force you into acts which you know are foolish.
Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal.
Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong - but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong.
Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.
It is impossible for anyone to be responsible for another person's behavior. The most you or any leader can do is to encourage each one to be responsible for himself.
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
The Ten Commandments are for lame brains. The first five are solely for the benefit of the priests and the powers that be; the second five are half truths, neither complete nor adequate.
Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it continues until it destroys.
Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.
There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute nor common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back...
A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.
Ayn Rand is a bloody socialist compared to me.
Men rarely if ever dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
You live and learn. Or you don't live long.
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the sophisticated deplore these formalities as 'empty,' 'meaningless,' or 'dishonest,' and scorn to use them. No matter how 'pure' their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss.
Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Every day we present the best quotes! Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends
or simply: