Tension Quotes
Full quote: Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies. Leave men free, and their natural inequalities will multiply almost geometrically, as in England and America in the nineteenth century under laissez-faire. To check the growth of inequality, liberty must be sacrificed, as in Russia after 1917. Even when repressed, inequality grows; only the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality; those who are conscious of superior ability desire freedom; and in the end superior ability has its way. Utopias of equality are biologically doomed, and the best that the amiable philosopher can hope for is an approximate equality of legal justice and educational opportunity.
Misquoted. Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Ms. Palin on Saturday Night Live, uttered this line that is now widely attributed to the former Alaska governor. The basis for this line comes from a Sept. 11, 2008 interview with ABC News's Charles Gibson, who asked Palin what insights she had from her state being so close to Russia. She responded: "They're our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska." This is true. On a clear day, those on the Alaskan island of Little Diomede can see the Russian island of Big Diomede, some two and a half miles away. There are other points in Alaska where you can see Russia on a clear day.
This was one of the most accurate foreign policy assessments ever made. The next year the first Arab-Israeli war began when the state of Israel came into being. See {624566} for another accurate prediction.
Before dying in 1833 Fernando predicted the ambiguity of Spain’s future.
