A wiser rule would be to make up your mind soberly what you want, peace or war, and then to get ready for what you want; for what we prepare for is what we shall get. William Graham Sumner More Quotes by William Graham Sumner More Quotes From William Graham Sumner What man ever blamed himself for his misfortune? William Graham Sumner misfortunes men It generally troubles them [the reformers] not a whit that their remedy implies a complete reconstruction of society, or even a reconstitution of human nature. William Graham Sumner reconstruction human-nature trouble Whatever capital you divert to the support of a shiftless and good-for-nothing person is so much diverted from some other employment, and that means from somebody else. I would spend any conceivable amount of zeal and eloquence if I possessed it to try to make people grasp this idea. Capital is force. If it goes one way it cannot go another. If you give a loaf to a pauper you cannot give the same loaf to a laborer. Now this other man who would have got it but for the charitable sentiment which bestowed it on a worthless member of society is the Forgotten Man. William Graham Sumner men mean ideas But we have inherited a vast number of social ills which never came from Nature. They are the complicated products of all the tinkering, muddling, and blundering of social doctors in the past. William Graham Sumner doctors numbers past The truth is that cupidity, selfishness, envy, malice, lust, vindictiveness, are constant vices of human nature. William Graham Sumner selfishness envy lust Nine-tenths of our measures for preventing vice are really protective towards it, because they ward off the penalty. William Graham Sumner penalties vices nine Then, again, the ability to organize and conduct industrial, commercial, or financial enterprises is rare; the great captains of industry are as rare as great generals. William Graham Sumner captains ability financial In England pensions used to be given to aristocrats, because aristocrats had political influence, in order to corrupt them. Here pensions are given to the great democratic mass, because they have political power, to corrupt them. William Graham Sumner england political order Yet we are constantly annoyed, and the legislatures are kept constantly busy, by the people who have made up their minds that it is wise and conducive to happiness to live in a certain way, and who want to compel everybody else to live in their way. William Graham Sumner annoyed wise people One thing must be granted to the rich: they are goodnatured. William Graham Sumner one-thing granted rich For A to sit down and think, What shall I do? is commonplace; but to think what B ought to do is interesting, romantic, moral, self-flattering, and public-spirited all at once. It satisfies a great number of human weaknesses at once. To go on and plan what a whole class of people ought to do is to feel one's self a power on earth, to win a public position, to clothe one's self in dignity. Hence we have an unlimited supply of reformers, philanthropists, humanitarians, and would-be managers-in-general of society. William Graham Sumner winning class thinking Civil liberty is the status of the man who is guaranteed by law and civil institutions the exclusive employment of all his own powers for his own welfare. William Graham Sumner liberty law men Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is the function of science and art. There is no process by which to reach an ideal. There are no tests by which to verify it. It is therefore impossible to frame a proposition about an ideal which can be proved or disproved. It follows that the use of ideals is to be strictly limited to proper cases, and that the attempt to use ideals in social discussion does not deserve serious consideration. William Graham Sumner effort doe art Great captains of industry are as rare as great generals William Graham Sumner captains-of-industry captains organize The millionaires are a product of natural selection ... the naturally selected agents of society for certain work. They get high wages and live in luxury, but the bargain is a good one for society. William Graham Sumner agents luxury wages The aggregation of large fortunes is not at all a thing to be regretted. William Graham Sumner fortune There ought to be no laws to guarantee property against the folly of its possessors. William Graham Sumner folly guarantees law The Forgotten Man... works, he votes, generally he prays-but he always pays-yes, above all, he pays. He does not want an office; his name never gets into the newspaper except when he gets married or dies. He keeps production going on.... He does not frequent the grocery or talk politics at the tavern. Consequently, he is forgotten.... All the burdens fall on him, or on her, for it is time to remember that the Forgotten Man is not seldom a woman. William Graham Sumner names men fall In the New Testament it is taught that willing and voluntary service to others is the highest duty and glory in human life. . . . The men of talent are constantly forced to serve the rest. They make the discoveries and inventions, order the battles, write the books, and produce the works of art. The benefit and enjoyment go to the whole. There are those who joyfully order their own lives so that they may serve the welfare of mankind. William Graham Sumner life book art What is the real relation between happiness and goodness? It is only within a few generations that men have found courage to say that there is none. William Graham Sumner generations real men
