Wit & Wisdom

From Herbert Hoover, M.W. Harrison, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Walter Bagehot, Karl Kraus, Spike Milligan

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.”

Herbert Hoover, quoted in the Australian Sunday Mail

“The waste of money cures itself, for soon there is no more to waste.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

“Most people would succeed in small things, if they were not troubled with great ambitions.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, quoted in United Press International

“It is often said that men are ruled by their imaginations; but it would be truer to say they are governed by the weakness of their imaginations.”

Journalist Walter Bagehot, quoted in the Associated Press

“How is the world ruled and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to journalists, then they believe what they read.”

Austrian essayist Karl Kraus, quoted in the London Independent

“The advantage of taking an instant dislike to somebody is that it saves time.’’

Spike Milligan, quoted in the London Review of Books