Archives

If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. Banksy

It’s better to be alone than to wish you were. Unknown

Be aware that there are other proposals for “electronic money” which are not nearly so protective of individuals’ privacy. Chaum’s proposals are intended to preserve the privacy attributes of cash, so the term “digital cash” is appropriate. But other electronic replacements for cash not only lack its privacy, but would actually facilitate computer monitoring by putting more detailed information into databases, and by discouraging the use of cash. If you see a proposal for an electronic money system, check to see whether it has the ability to preserve the privacy of financial transactions the way paper money does today. If not, realize that the proposal is designed to harm, not help, individual privacy. Hal Finney (Protecting Privacy with Electronic Cash, 1993)

[The high-minded man] must care for truth more than for what men will think of him, and speak and act openly. He will not hesitate to say what he thinks. […] honour is what high-minded men are concerned with; for it is honour that great men claim and deserve. Aristotle

One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again. [The more you study the past, the further you can see the future.] Thomas Sowell

That which you most need will be found where you least want to look. Carl Jung (paraphrase)

If working hard made you rich, donkeys would be covered in gold. French proverb

Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. Friedrich W. Nietzsche

Sex was an expression of friendship: in Africa it was like holding hands… It was friendly and fun. There was no coercion. It was offered willingly. Paul Theroux

Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

Anarchism is not a romantic fable but he hardheaded realization, based on five thousand years of experience, that we cannot entrust the management of our lives to kings, priests, politicians, generals, and county commissioners. Edward Abbey

The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error, if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim. Gustave Le Bon

If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed. Mark Twain

The idea that the State originated to serve any kind of social purpose is completely unhistorical. It originated in conquest and confiscation — that is to say, in crime. It originated for the purpose of maintaining the division of society into an owning-and-exploiting class and a propertyless dependent class — that is, for a criminal purpose. Albert J. Nock

A man is no less a slave because he is allowed to choose a new master once in a term of years. Lysander Spooner

The State is, and always has been, the great single enemy of the human race, its liberty, happiness, and progress. Murray Rothbard

The ‘net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. John Gilmore (EFF founder)

A good artist should be isolated. If he isn’t isolated something is wrong. Orson Welles

I think the person who takes a job in order to live — that is to say, for the money — has turned himself into a slave. Joseph Campbell

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Frederick Douglas