The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Quote by John Kenneth Galbraith

Topics: Conservative Quotes

Where humor is concerned there are no standards - no one can say what is...

Where humor is concerned there are no standards - no one can say what is...

Wisdom itself is often an abstraction associated not with fact or reality but with the...

Wisdom itself is often an abstraction associated not with fact or reality but with the...

We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not...

We can safely abandon the doctrine of the eighties, namely that the rich were not...

The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.

The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.

Few people at the beginning of the nineteenth century needed an adman to tell them...

Few people at the beginning of the nineteenth century needed an adman to tell them...

You will find that the State is the kind of organization which, though it does...

You will find that the State is the kind of organization which, though it does...

In the choice between changing ones mind and proving there's no need to do so,...

In the choice between changing ones mind and proving there's no need to do so,...

Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or...

Commencement oratory must eschew anything that smacks of partisan politics, political preference, sex, religion or...

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the...

In all life one should comfort the afflicted, but verily, also, one should afflict the...

Total physical and mental inertia are highly agreeable, much more so than we allow ourselves...

Total physical and mental inertia are highly agreeable, much more so than we allow ourselves...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

One can relish the varied idiocy of human action during a panic to the full,...

Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.

Modesty is a vastly overrated virtue.

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous...

Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous...

Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover for either...

Much literary criticism comes from people for whom extreme specialization is a cover for either...

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.

The enemy of the conventional wisdom is not ideas but the march of events.

It would be foolish to suggest that government is a good custodian of aesthetic goals....

It would be foolish to suggest that government is a good custodian of aesthetic goals....

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get agreement and then...

Meetings are a great trap. Soon you find yourself trying to get agreement and then...

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.

In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority...

In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong with the majority...