David

“The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement. They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty. They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship. They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent. They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Every man but one a subordinate clerk in a bureau.”
― Ludwig von Mises, Bureaucracy

“They’re not any smarter than they have to be and they’re just as smart as they need to be.”
― Cormac McCarthy, The Passenger

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
― Confucius

“But in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me most.”
― Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow