What we call Man's power over Nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with Nature as its instrument [or excuse].
―C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
Scarcity
The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.
—Thomas Sowell, Is Reality Optional? and Other Essays
The Insatiable Soul
What moves each soul is different, but the soul is the same—this restive and insatiable soul that despises all goods of the world and which, nonetheless, incessantly needs to be stirred in order to seize them, so as to escape the grievous numbness that is experienced as soon as it relies for a moment on itself. This is a sad story. It is a little bit the story of all men, but of some more than others, and of myself more than anyone I know.
—Alexis de Tocqueville, Selected Letters, 148–149.
Intellectual Proletariat
There are few greater dangers to political stability than than the existence of an intellectual proletariat who find no outlet for their learning [other than politics].
—F.A. Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty
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