Henry George

• “It is too narrow an understanding of production which confines it merely to the making of things. Production includes not merely the making of things, but the bringing of them to the consumer. The merchant or storekeeper is thus as truly a producer as is the manufacturer, or farmer, and his stock or capital is as much devoted to production as is theirs.”

• “There are people into whose heads it never enters to conceive of any better state of society than that which now exists.”

• “To prevent government from becoming corrupt and tyrannous, its organization and methods should be as simple as possible, its functions be restricted to those necessary to the common welfare, and in all its parts it should be kept as close to the people and as directly within their control as may be.”

• “I am firmly convinced, as I have already said, that to effect any great social improvement, it is sympathy rather than self-interest, the sense of duty rather than the desire for self-advancement, that must be appealed to. Envy is akin to admiration, and it is the admiration that the rich and powerful excite which secures the perpetuation of aristocracies.”

• “Trade has ever been the extinguisher of war, the eradicator of prejudice, the diffuser of knowledge.”

• “We cannot think with precision unless in our own minds we use words with precision.”

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.