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

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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About John Kenneth Galbraith

Portrait of John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through the 2000s. As an economist, he leaned toward post-Keynesian economics from an institutionalist perspective.Galbraith was...

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All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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It is a far, far better thing to have a firm anchor in nonsense than to put out on the troubled sea of thought.

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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There are days when the result is so bad that no fewer than five revisions are required. In contrast, when I'm greatly inspired, only four revisions are needed.

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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Meetings are indispensable when you don't want to do anything.

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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Most people assume the fights are going to be the left versus the right, but it always is the reasonable versus the jerks.

—John Kenneth Galbraith

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More quotations tagged with “disaster”

Every decision is liberating even if it leads to disaster.

—Elias Canetti

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Even if one tree falls down it wouldn't affect the entire forest.

—Chen Shui-bian

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I don't think you understand how easy it is to make a mistake that will cost you forever.

—Sarah Dessen in Someone Like You

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Everything was okay. Maybe not perfect, but life wasn't meant to be perfect. It was messy and sometimes it was a disaster, but there was beauty in the messiness and there could be peace in the disaster.

—Jennifer L. Armentrout in Wait for You

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To everyone's surprise, wildlife abounds in the deserted environs of the doomed [Chernobyl] nuclear plant. Elk, wild pigs, wolves, and rabbits all seem to be flourishing. These animals have somehow learned to cope with the high levels of radiation. Who knows, perhaps there are mutations: A pig that can climb. A rabbit with a prehensile tail. An elk with a unicorn's horn. Cells are quick-change artists. Life loves life. Humans may end, but the world won't.

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