I’ve lived in Washington now for 44 years, and that’s a lot of folly to witness up close. Whatever confidence and optimism I felt towards the central government when I got here on January 1, 1970 has pretty much dissipated at the hands of the government. George Will Read Quote
Populism has had as many incarnations as it has had provocations, but its constant ingredient has been resentment, and hence whininess. Populism does not wax in tranquil times; it is a cathartic response to serious problems. But it always wanes because it never seems serious as a solution. George Will Read Quote
Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes. George Will Read Quote
Promoting dependency is the Democratic Party’s vocation. It knows that almost all entitlements are forever, and those that are not – e.g., the lifetime eligibility for welfare, repealed in 1996 – are not for the middle class. George Will Read Quote
Just as the common law derives from ancient precedents – judges’ decisions – rather than statutes, baseball’s codes are the game’s distilled mores. Their unchanged purpose is to show respect for opponents and the game. In baseball, as in the remainder of life, the most important rules are unwritten. But not unenforced. George Will Read Quote
When liberals advocate a value-added tax, conservatives should respond: Taxing consumption has merits, so we will consider it – after the 16th Amendment is repealed. George Will Read Quote
The euro currency both presupposes and promotes a fiction – that ‘Europe’ has somehow become, against the wishes of most Europeans, a political rather than a merely geographic expression. George Will Read Quote
Politicians fascinate because they constitute such a paradox; they are an elite that accomplishes mediocrity for the public good. George Will Read Quote
Politics should share one purpose with religion: the steady emancipation of the individual through the education of his passions. George Will Read Quote