You cannot simultaneously have free immigration and a welfare state.

A society that puts equality before freedom will get neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both.

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand.

Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

You cannot be sure that you are right unless you understand the arguments against your views better than your opponents do.

The essential notion of a capitalist society ... is voluntary cooperation, voluntary exchange. The essential notion of a socialist society is force.

I am favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible.

The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.

The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

The world hangs like a heart-shaped locket around my neck.

I kind of had an idea that New York would be like Fashion Week, where everyone always looks incredibly chic and cool, and I wouldn't fit in.

I love research and being educated. It's a great job being able to step into all kinds of professions and into other people's shoes.

Money lets you enjoy the finer things of life, but it doesn't change who you are. It magnifies and brings into fruition the things that you want to hide most. It is a mask for insecurities as well.

I am so grateful to America and all it has given to me.

Poetry proceeds from the totality of man, sense, imagination, intellect, love, desire, instinct, blood and spirit together.

It's easy to forget how central the French people are in everything we mean when we say Europe.

The idea of abstracting away the one thing that must be blindingly fast, the kernel, is inherently counter productive.

Of course. My sadness has become a routine that no one notices anymore.

Actually, I began to think that maybe there is a god, after all. Or maybe its a different one. The old one got fired.