JOHN MCCARTHY

We modern Marxists regard socialism as a historically brief transitional stage between feudalism and capitalism, necessary only in backward countries.

Slogans rarely convince the unconvinced. However, they do rally the troops already on your side.

When thugs by nature meet thugs by political conviction, 5-0 is not surprising.

My opinion is that he's a swindler and you're a sucker.

An extreme optimist is a man who believes that humanity will probably survive even if it doesn't take his advice.

Inside of many liberals is a fascist struggling to get out.

Once a person has killed other people on behalf of an ideology, he becomes rather devoted to it.

With no more than six levels of misquotation, any statement can be made to say whatever you wish.

Suicidal terrorists may have short shelf lives.

His ambition is to be the spider in the World Wide Web.

Compassion is contempt with a human face.

A declining institution often experiences survival of the unfittest.

Alas few socialists are either benevolent enough to work hard at these occupations out of benevolence or self-interested enough to work hard at them for money.

Both politicians and journalists face situations which strain their honesty and humanity. My opinion is that politicians on the average stand up somewhat better than journalists.

The difference between a contemporary liberal and a socialist is that to a liberal the most beautiful word in the English language is 'forbidden', whereas to a socialist the most beautiful word is 'compulsory'.

He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense.

Committing genocide on behalf of an institution generates greater loyalty to it than merely getting people fired from their jobs on its behalf.

Don't try to talk anyone out of concentrating his hatred on Ayn Rand or any other dead person. It can't harm the dead. Diverted to a living person, it might actually do harm.

Honor among thieves is the ancestor of all honor.

Never abandon a theory that explains something until you have a theory that explains more.

My hobby of not attending meetings about recycling saves more energy than your hobby of recycling.

The slogan was 'Don't trust anyone over thirty'. Sixty years later the slogan became, 'Don't trust anyone over ninety'.

Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.

Proposals to forbid golf courses have about the same motivations as proposals to forbid skate boarding, although the rationalizations are different.

Soccer riots kill at most tens. Intellectuals' ideological riots sometimes kill millions.