If government were a product, selling it would be illegal.

—P. J. O'Rourke

About P. J. O'Rourke

Portrait of P. J. O'Rourke

Patrick Jake O'Rourke (November 14, 1947 – February 15, 2022) was an American author, journalist, and political satirist who wrote twenty-two books on subjects as diverse as politics, cars, etiquette, and economics. His books Parliament of Whores and Give War a Chance both reached No. 1 on The New York...

More quotations from P. J. O'Rourke

There's a whiff of the lynch mob or the lemming migration about any overlarge concentration of like-thinking individuals, no matter how virtuous their cause.

—P. J. O'Rourke

The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.

—P. J. O'Rourke

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

—P. J. O'Rourke

Never wear anything that panics the cat.

—P. J. O'Rourke

fashion cats cloths

Nothing bad's going to happen to us. If we get fired, it's not failure; it's a midlife vocational reassessment.

—P. J. O'Rourke

More quotations tagged with “government”

I find patriotism not only a refuge of scoundrels but of idiots and those who like to buy their thinking ready-made each morning in the vacuous newspapers. Every decade or so governments create wars and whip up a frenzy, so that we will not notice the shortcomings of our own side and will not question the assumptions of our society and demand more rational institutions and laws.

—Marge Piercy

war news government patriotism

The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

—Ronald Reagan

government taxes regulation economy

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

facts government

Disbelief in magic can force a poor soul into believing in government and business.

Any government is potentially the worst client in the world you could ever possibly want to have.

History

11 Mar 2016 Added