Poetry

Poetry's beauty is in its brevity. Stating volumes with very few chosen words. I suggest the following examples are poetry in the political/social arena. I have noted these expressions over the years and aver they are poetry in the strictest and classic sense.

William F. Buckley, the founder of contemporary conservative thought, said when addressing socialism, "Socialize the individual's surplus and you socialize his spirit and creativeness; you cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters."

Ronald Reagan stated, "A government agency is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth."

Thomas Sowell in a recent column wrote, "Many years ago, there was a comic book character who could say the magic word "Shazam" and turn into Captain Marvel, a character with powers like Superman's. Today, you can say the magic word "diversity" and turn reverse discrimination into social justice."

Richard Weaver: "One of the chief directives of Liberalism is to deny the existence of either-or choices."

Gary Wills: " If you want to find the jealous embrace of attained power, go to the Liberal ideologue, who must have total power in order to achieve his total reform, his rapid creation of Utopia."

Barry Goldwater: "I do not believe in punishing success."

Benjamin Disraeli: "I consider it a great homage to public opinion to find every scoundrel nowadays professing himself a liberal."

Winston Churchill: "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile--hoping it will eat him last."

Edmund Burke: "But to drive men from independence to live on alms is itself a great cruelty."

Henry Adams: "Practical politics consists in ignoring facts."

Axiom of those who study communications. "In communications you have failed if you have to explain."

Joseph Wood Krutch: "Civilizations die from philosophical calm, irony and the sense of fair play quite as surely as they die of debauchery."

A few regarding taxation I find amusing but profound.

Edmund Burke: "to tax and to please3, no more than to love and be wise, is not given to men."

Mortimer Caplan: "There is one difference between a tax collector and a taxidermist--The taxidermist leaves the hide."

Jean Baptiste Colbert: The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing." (this circa 1665)

A couple from Will Rogers:

"The Income Tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has."

"When everybody has got money they cut taxes, and when they're broke they raise 'em. That's statesmanship of the highest order."

And from the 2nd century A.D. Tiberius stated, "It is the part of a good shepherd to shear his flock, not to flay it."