Quotes About Control

Everything in life is a matter of choice. There are only two things we have no choice about. We cannot avoid these two things no matter how hard we try. The first is that we must die. Death is an absolute certainty, and the second thing we have no choice about is that we must live until we die. Now understand this - everything else in your life that you think you have to do, or are forced to do, is a choice.

The fear of death is the beginning of slavery.

Government.... the scariest thing we face every Halloween... every day of every year!

The obligation to receive reduces our ability to choose whom we wish to be indebted to and puts that power in the hands of others.

the world abounds with cults populated by dependent people who are led by a charismatic figure.

As an old adage advises, "If you really want to get something done, you've got three options: do it yourself, pay top dollar, or forbid your teenagers to do it.

It is an interesting fact that during my tour I was never allowed access to computers, radios, or anything else that I might damage through curiosity, or perhaps something more sinister.

As the economic historian Karl Polanyi recognized, those who argue for "less government" are really arguing for a different government—often one that favors them or their patrons.1

people with the most to lose from genuine social change have put themselves in charge of social change.

The system is created by people. The question is, 'Which people?' The central issue is not more or less government. It's 'Who is government for?'. In other words, it's all a question of power — who has it and who doesn't.

Socialism for the rich means the oligarchy is not held accountable. Harsh capitalism for the many means most Americans are at risk for events over which they have no control—such as the closing of factories across the Midwest or a Wall Street financial crisis—and have no safety nets to catch them if they fall.

Markets need rules for determining the degree to which economic power can be concentrated without damaging the system.

truth, income and wealth increasingly depend on who has the power to set the rules of the game.

President Woodrow Wilson explained the dangerous connection between excessive economic and political power in similar terms, in his 1913 book, The New Freedom: "I do not expect to see monopoly restrain itself. If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it.

How many billionaires and big corporations does it take to buy the presidency and Congress? We would soon find out—although we would not know many of their names.

The idea of a "free market" separate and distinct from government has functioned as a useful cover for those who do not want the market mechanism fully exposed. They have had the most influence over it and would rather keep it that way. The mythology is useful precisely because it hides their power.

There can be no "free market" without government. The "free market" does not exist in the wilds beyond the reach of civilization. Competition in the wild is a contest for survival in which the largest and strongest typically win. Civilization, by contrast, is defined by rules; rules create markets, and governments generate the rules.

Only when you've had that experience of falling in love with something, Barron believes, will learning the rules that support it make sense. Otherwise, "rule-talk" is always going to seem like someone trying to control another, like an exercise in power rather than liberation to play the game well.

The modern world is turning people into package purchasers with no control over things that can deeply affect their lives and health. We are losing touch with the world of nature and with ourselves as humans.

Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.

See, Matt, there's two kinds of people," he went on. "And the difference is in how they see themselves. One guy says to himself, 'I'm the boss of circumstances.' The other guy says, 'I'm the victim of circumstances.'...And you know what?...They're both right.

When a man takes an oath... he's holding his own self in his own hands. Like water. And if he opens his fingers then — he needn't hope to find himself again.

The heart was a tyrant, like a child demanding ice cream instead of broccoli and throwing a fit to get its way.

Leash: n, a means by which animals, formerly running wild, are prevented from running tame, also.