He who spares vice wrongs virtue.
—European proverb
Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.
—Ayn Rand, 1969
Whenever the government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves,
the only consequence it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.
—William Godwin, 1793
The weak members of civilized society propagate their kind. […] This may be highly
injurious to the race of men.
—Charles Darwin, 1871
Sympathy thwarts the law of development, of evolution, of the survival of the fittest. It
preserves what is ripe for extinction.
—Friederich Nietzsche, 1888
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of their folly, is to fill the world with
fools.
—Herbert Spencer, 1891
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own
spiritual death on an installment plan.
—Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
***
One of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity.
—Andrew Carnegie, 1889
22
Charity corrupts both the giver and the taker, and moreover does not reach its goal, because
it merely multiplies poverty.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1880
Charity is twice cursed – it hardens him that gives and softens him that takes.
—Bouck White, 1911
If you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you
do him a good turn.
23
—Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, 1885
22
He was not some old scrooge, but perhaps the most famous American philanthropist, who also
said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced”. The word “indiscriminate” is certainly the key
to this apparent contradiction.
23
This is actually a rather liberal translation of an old Chinese proverb; I quote it in this form only
because it has served as the basis of numerous later twists. Of them, I especially like the following
(anonymous?) wisdom: “If you promise a man somebody else’s fish, he will vote for you”.
On Government and Politics
171
—European proverb
Pity for the guilty is treason to the innocent.
—Ayn Rand, 1969
Whenever the government assumes to deliver us from the trouble of thinking for ourselves,
the only consequence it produces are those of torpor and imbecility.
—William Godwin, 1793
The weak members of civilized society propagate their kind. […] This may be highly
injurious to the race of men.
—Charles Darwin, 1871
Sympathy thwarts the law of development, of evolution, of the survival of the fittest. It
preserves what is ripe for extinction.
—Friederich Nietzsche, 1888
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of their folly, is to fill the world with
fools.
—Herbert Spencer, 1891
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own
spiritual death on an installment plan.
—Martin Luther King Jr., 1963
***
One of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity.
—Andrew Carnegie, 1889
22
Charity corrupts both the giver and the taker, and moreover does not reach its goal, because
it merely multiplies poverty.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1880
Charity is twice cursed – it hardens him that gives and softens him that takes.
—Bouck White, 1911
If you give a man a fish he is hungry again in an hour. If you teach him to catch a fish you
do him a good turn.
23
—Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, 1885
22
He was not some old scrooge, but perhaps the most famous American philanthropist, who also
said, “The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced”. The word “indiscriminate” is certainly the key
to this apparent contradiction.
23
This is actually a rather liberal translation of an old Chinese proverb; I quote it in this form only
because it has served as the basis of numerous later twists. Of them, I especially like the following
(anonymous?) wisdom: “If you promise a man somebody else’s fish, he will vote for you”.
On Government and Politics
171