Policy Quotes

“أكبر جريمة ارتُكبت في العقود الثلاثة الماضية كانت تفريغ العقول ، طمس الفكر وتسييس القناعات ويوما ما سيتولى التاريخ محاكمة مرتكبيها.”
― أحمد مراد, تراب الماس

“Plato argued that good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will always find a way around law. By pretending that procedure will get rid of corruption, we have succeeded only in humiliating honest people and provided a cover of darkness and complexity for the bad people. There is a scandal here, but it's not the result of venal bureaucrats.
(1994) p. 99”
― Philip K. Howard, The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America

“إن من سخرية القدر أن تتدهور أحوال الناس بعد ثورة شعبية و تتحسن أحوال المسئولين عن النظام”
― عز الدين شكري فشير

“When you are in a hole, the top priority is to stop digging.”
― William Easterly, The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

“It’s hard not to empathize with the mayor’s anger, given the injustices he’d suffered, but righteous anger rarely leads to wise policy.”
― Edward L. Glaeser, Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier and Happier

“Believing, as they now did, that the heavenly powers took part in human affairs, they became so much absorbed in the cultivation of religion and so deeply imbued with the sense of their religious duties, that the sanctity of an oath had more power to control their lives than the fear of punishment for lawbreaking.”
― Livy, The History of Rome, Books 1-5: The Early History of Rome

“The political reputation of Servius rests upon his organization of society according to a fixed scale of rank and fortune. He originated the census, a measure of the highest utility to a state destined, as Rome was, to future preeminence; for by means of its public service, in peace as well as in war, could thence forward be regularly organized on the basis of property; every man's contribution could be in proportion to his means.”
― Livy, The History of Rome, Books 1-5: The Early History of Rome

“The path to a sustained victory in Afghanistan lies in improving their economy, creating jobs for the Afghanis, strengthening their government and national services, getting the provinces to trust each other and work together, and eliminating the opium trade. Previously, the United States' policy was to not get deeply involved in internal Afghani drug issues; now we've changed the policy and are actively working to eradicate the drugs. But nobody has yet to come up with a way to shut down the poppy fields and get the Afghani people back to work. Until that happens, the Taliban will inevitable creep back in.”
― Michael DeLong, A General Speaks Out: The Truth About the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

“The wolf reintroduction has gone so well that, somewhat ironically, the wolves are now threatened by their own success. Indeed, virtually all the conditions for strong public support that were evident in the early years of the program remain intact. The scientific and economic studies cited above support the original predictions of benefits, and agency officials remain committed to the policy. Yet some political actors remain hostile to the program. As NPS management assistant Sacklin said," No amount of good science will stop a politician.”
― William R. Lowry, Repairing Paradise: The Restoration of Nature in America's National Parks (Brookings Publications

“One of the arguments that authoritarian governments use to ward off the call for greater political freedom is to argue that American-style democracy is no guarantee of good policy.... Over the years, I’ve grown used to these arguments, and my response has rarely wavered: Sure, we might make dumb choices sometimes, but we will defend, to the end, the right to make choices at all, because we believe that our collective conscience, freely expressed, will eventually lead us in the right direction. When it comes to guns, it is getting harder to muster that argument abroad. Every new shooting, every new failure of will and citizenship, slashes another hole in our credibility as a way of life.”
― Evan Osnos

“Honesty has become the second best policy with your spouse…discretions apply elsewhere”
― Amit Abraham