So they [the Government] go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.

About Tom Robbins

Portrait of Tom Robbins

Thomas Eugene Robbins (July 22, 1932 – February 9, 2025) was an American novelist. His most notable works are "seriocomedies" (also known as "comedy dramas"). His 1976 novel Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was adapted into the 1993 film version by Gus Van Sant. His last work, published in 2014,...

More quotations from Tom Robbins

Violence stinks no matter which side of it you're on. But now and then there's nothing left to do but hit the other person over the head with a frying pan.

argument violence anger

Deep down, all of us are probably aware that some kind of mystical evolution is our true task. Yet we suppress the notion with considerable force because to admit it is to admit that most of our political gyrations, religious dogmas, social ambitions, and financial ploys are not merely counterproductive but trivial.

politics reality religion dogma purpose change ambition evolution triviality counterproductive

If little else, the brain is an educational toy.

education brain toys

Salvation is for the feeble, that’s what I think. I don’t want salvation. I want life, all of life, the miserable as well as the superb.

life salvation variety

People who sacrifice beauty for efficiency get what they deserve.

beauty efficiency

More quotations tagged with “government”

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them right away.

—Thomas Carlyle

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.

—Winston Churchill

When our government is spoken of as some menacing, threatening, foreign entity, it ignores the fact that in our democracy, government is us.

—Ronald Reagan

What we should be asking is not whether we need a big government or small government, but how we can create a smarter and better government.

—Richard M. Nixon

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

—P. J. O'Rourke

History

11 Jul 2015 Added