If we get into the mind-set where the good becomes the enemy of the best, we will get nothing. Daniel Patrick Moynihan More Quotes by Daniel Patrick Moynihan More Quotes From Daniel Patrick Moynihan The liberal left can be as rigid and destructive as any force in American life. Daniel Patrick Moynihan american-life left force So many of the new nations which were established as democracies after the second world war, during the decolonizing process, have now changed their system to state-socialism. Small elites run them, and they aren't sharing societies. They aren't even socialist. The power of the state has been merged with business property and you have the greatest concentration of power that's possible. Daniel Patrick Moynihan democracy running war In too many cases, if our Government had set out determined to destroy the family, it couldn't have done greater damage than some of what we see today. Daniel Patrick Moynihan government done today To strip our past of glory is no great loss, but to deny it honor is devastating. Daniel Patrick Moynihan honor loss past The Soviet Union came apart along ethnic lines. The most important factor in this breakup was the disinclination of Slavic Ukraine to continue under a regime dominated by Slavic Russia. Yugoslavia came apart also, beginning with a brutal clash between Serbia and Croatia, here again 'nations' with only the smallest differences in genealogy; with, indeed, practically a common language. Ethnic conflict does not require great differences; small will do. Daniel Patrick Moynihan ukraine russia breakup The great corporations of this country were not founded by ordinary people. They were founded by people with extraordinary intelligence, ambition, and aggressiveness. Daniel Patrick Moynihan business ambition country We have the right to our own opinions, but not our own facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan opinion facts The work of democratic government is routinely concerned with matters defined as troubles. In "The Presidency and the Press" I make the point, familiar to anyone who has flown about the world much, that the best quick test of the political nature of a regime is to read the local papers on arrival. If they are filled with bad news, you have landed in a libertarian society of some sort. If, on the other hand, the press is filled with good news, it is a fair bet that the jails will be filled with good men. Daniel Patrick Moynihan jail men hands One ideological claim is that private property is theft, that the natural product of the existence of property is evil, and that private ownership therefore should not exist... What those who feel this way don't realize is that property is a notion that has to do with control - that property is a system for the disposal of power. The absence of property almost always means the concentration of power in the state. Daniel Patrick Moynihan politics evil mean The amount of violations of human rights in a country is always an inverse function of the amount of complaints about human rights violations heard from there. The greater the number of complaints being aired, the better protected are human rights in that country. Daniel Patrick Moynihan rights numbers country Political society wants things simple. Political scientists know them to be complex... One could argue that, in part, the leftist impulse is so conspicuous among the educated and well-to-do precisely because they are exposed to more information, and are accordingly forced to choose between living with the strains of complexity, or lapsing into simplism. Daniel Patrick Moynihan political simple want At 14 you are still in most respects a dependent youth, in some respects a child. At 24 you are an adult. In between, extraordinary turbulences take place. Daniel Patrick Moynihan youth adults children We've come full circle but the best remains the heart of the city, the greatest center of the greatest city, our Acropolis, where our Christmas tree is lighted. Daniel Patrick Moynihan circles cities heart A commonplace of political rhetoric has it that the quality of a civilization may be measured by how it cares for its elderly. Just as surely, the future of a society may be forecast by how it cares for its young. Daniel Patrick Moynihan elderly political civilization People who pierce the veil of money rarely return with their faculties altogether intact. Daniel Patrick Moynihan veils return people What is not discussed, will not be advanced. Daniel Patrick Moynihan Pandaemonium was inhabited by creatures quite convinved that the great Satan had their best interests at heart. Poor little devils. Daniel Patrick Moynihan devil heart littles Secrecy is for losers. . . . It is time to dismantle government secrecy, this most persuasive of Cold War-era regulations. It is time to begin building the supports for the era of openness that is already upon us. Daniel Patrick Moynihan support government war Secrecy is for losers. For people who do not know how important the information really is. Daniel Patrick Moynihan information important people Irresponsibility breeds irresponsibility. The finances of government are so central. You'd think that would be pretty obvious. Daniel Patrick Moynihan government would-be thinking
