WIST Quotations

Rogers, Will -- Column (1931-02-27), “Daily Telegram”

Dave — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 15:54:42 +0000

The whole trouble with the Republicans is their fear of an increase in income tax, especially on higher incomes. They speak of it almost like a national calamity. I really believe if it come to a vote whether to go to war with England, France and Germany combined, or raise the rate on incomes of over $100,000, they would vote war.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1931-02-27), “Daily Telegram”
(Source)

Jackson, Robert H. -- United States v. Kahriger, 345 U.S. 36 (1953) [concurring]

Dave — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 14:19:34 +0000

The United States has a system of taxation by confession. That a people so numerous, scattered and individualistic annually assesses itself with a tax liability, often in highly burdensome amounts, is a reassuring sign of the stability and vitality of our system of self-government. What surprised me in once trying to help administer these laws was not to discover examples of recalcitrance, fraud or self-serving mistakes in reporting, but to discover that such derelictions were so few.

Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) US Supreme Court Justice (1941-54), lawyer, jurist, politician
United States v. Kahriger, 345 U.S. 36 (1953) [concurring]
(Source)

This is often misattributed to Hugo Black, who wrote a dissent in the case.

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:37:09 +0000

No man should receive a dollar unless that dollar has been fairly earned. Every dollar received should represent a dollar’s worth of service rendered — not gambling in stocks, but service rendered. The really big fortune, the swollen fortune, by the mere fact of its size acquires qualities which differentiate it in kind as well as in degree from what is possessed by men of relatively small means. Therefore, I believe in a graduated income tax on big fortunes, and in another tax which is far more easily collected and far more effective — a graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer, US President (1901–1909)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)

Rogers, Will -- Column (1923-04-08), “Weekly Article: How To Stop the Bootleggin'” [No. 17]

Dave — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:41:57 +0000

The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has. Even when you make one out on the level, you don’t know when it’s through if you are a crook or a martyr.

Will Rogers (1879-1935) American humorist
Column (1923-04-08), “Weekly Article: How To Stop the Bootleggin'” [No. 17]
(Source)

Collected in The Illiterate Digest, "Helping the Girls With Their Income Taxes" (1924).

For more discussion of this quote's origins and variants, see Quote Origin: The Income Tax Has Made More Liars Out of the American People Than Golf Has – Quote Investigator®.