In the affluent society, no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessities.

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

Oligopoly is an imperfect monopoly. Like the despotism of the Dual Monarchy, it is saved only by its incompetence.

Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite.

But there is merit even in the mentally retarded legislator. He asks the questions that everyone is afraid to ask for fear of seeming simple.

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

If all else fails immortality can always be assured by adequate error.

The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.

There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting.

Simple minds, presumably, are the easiest to manage.

Every corner of the public psyche is canvassed by some of the most talented citizens to see if the desire for some merchandisable product can be cultivated.

In the darkness, she listened to the silence. She wallowed in the beautiful nothing it made.

I locked the door and turned on the water to fill the tub. I made it so hot that I had to get in real slow. I wanted it to hurt

The art of delegation is one of the key skills any entrepreneur must master.

There is no revenge like oblivion, for it is the entombment of the unworthy in the dust of their own nothingness.

…you guessed that somewhere, in heaven knew what country and what guise, there was someone who was part of your body and your brain, and that without him you were lost, a straw blown by the wind.

I still live, I still think: I still have to live, for I still have to think.

The mother is really a more immediate parent than the father because one is born from the mother, and the first experience of any infant is the mother.

Maybe the '50s and '60s were more awkward because everyone knew there were things under the surface, but no one talked about them.

One of the biggest problems for beginning writers is this need to over-explain.

Stern duties need not speak sternly. He who stood firm before the thunder worshipped the still small voice.