WIST Quotations

Montesquieu -- Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 5, ch. 13 (5.13) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)]

Dave — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 20:01:16 +0000

When the savages of Louisiana want some fruit, they cut down the tree at the base and gather the fruit. That is how a despotic government works.

[Quand les sauvages de la Louisiane veulent avoir du fruit, ils coupent l’arbre au pied, & cueillent le fruit. Voilà le gouvernement despotique.]

Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689–1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 5, ch. 13 (5.13) (1748) [tr. Stewart (2018)]

(Source (French)). Other translations:

When the savages of Louisiana are desirous of fruit, they cut the tree to the root, and gather the fruit. This is an emblem of despotic government.
[tr. Nugent (1750)]

When the savages of Louisiana want fruit, they cut down the tree and gather the fruit. There you have despotic government.
[tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano -- Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies

Dave — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 23:14:14 +0000

Once it is realized that business monopoly in America paralyzes the system of free enterprise on which it is grafted, and is as fatal to those who manipulate it as to the people who suffer beneath its impositions, action by the government to eliminate these artificial restraints will be welcomed by industry throughout the nation.
For idle factories and idle workers profit no man.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882–1945) American lawyer, politician, statesman; US President (1933–45)
Message (1938-04-29) to Congress, On Curbing Monopolies

Le Guin, Ursula K. -- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, ch. 5 (1974)

Dave — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:01:55 +0000

Coercion is the least efficient means of obtaining order.

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer
The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia, ch. 5 (1974)

Davies, Robertson -- The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)

Dave — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 21:24:15 +0000

If you attack Stupidity, you attack an entrenched interest with friends in government and every walk of public life, and you will make small progress against it.

Robertson Davies (1913–1995) Canadian author, editor, publisher
The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks (1949)

Stross, Charles -- The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Dave — Tue, 25 Apr 2017 20:21:22 +0000

Bureaucracies are inefficient by design. Inefficiency is the twin sister of redundancy, of overcapacity, of the ability to plow through a swamp by brute force alone.

Charles "Charlie" Stross (b. 1964) British writer
The Apocalypse Codex (2012)

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 3, Citizenship Papers (2003)

Dave — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:03:42 +0000

It is impossible to think that constitutional government can be suspended in a time of danger, in deference to the greater “efficiency” of centralized power, and then easily or quickly restored. Efficiency may be a political virtue, but only if strictly limited. Our Constitution, by its separation of powers and its system of checks and balances, acts as a restraint upon efficiency by denying exclusive power to any branch of government. The logic of governmental efficiency, unchecked, runs straight on, not only to dictatorship, but also to torture, assassination, and other abominations.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (2003-02-09), “A Citizen’s Response,” sec. 3, Citizenship Papers (2003)

This passage did not appear in the original (abridged) full-page ad in the New York Times (2003-02-06) or the Orion Magazine (2003-03/04) publication of the essay.

McCarthy, Eugene -- Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine

Dave — Thu, 29 May 2008 10:47:05 +0000

The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty.

Eugene McCarthy (1916–2005) American politician, poet, activist
Quoted (1979-02-12), “People: On the Record” section, Time Magazine

(Backup Source). See Truman (1959).

Ogburn, Charlton Jr -- “Merrill’s Marauders: The truth about an incredible adventure,” Harper’s Magazine (Jan 1957)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.

Charlton Ogburn, Jr. (1911–1998) American journalist, author
“Merrill’s Marauders: The truth about an incredible adventure,” Harper’s Magazine (Jan 1957)

In his 1959 book, The Marauders, Ogburn rephrased this as: "As a result, I suppose, of high-level changes of mind about how we were to be used, we went through several reorganizations. Perhaps because Americans as a nation have a gift for organizing, we tend to meet any new situation by reorganization, and a wonderful method it is for creating the illusion of progress at a mere cost of confusion, inefficiency and demoralization."

Sometimes incorrectly cited to Gaius Petronius Arbiter. For more on this quotation, see here.