162 Quotes

“Everyone needs to believe that there are truly wise men and women out there. I sought out such when younger, and now I, elderly and prominent, have become the suitable vessel for others' wishes. I believe that our need for mentors reflects much about our vulnerability and wish for a superior or supreme being.”
― Irvin D. Yalom, Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death

“In the 1954 Internal Revenue Code, a Republican Congress changed forty-year, straight-line depreciation for buildings to permit 'accelerated depreciation' of greenfield income-producing property in seven years. By enabling owners to depreciate or write off the value of a building in such a short time, the law created a gigantic hidden subsidy for the developers of cheap new commercial buildings located on strips. Accelerated depreciation not only encouraged poor construction, it also discouraged maintenance...After time, the result was abandonment.”
― Dolores Hayden, Building Suburbia: Green Fields and Urban Growth, 1820-2000