In a 2006 news conference, Walter Cronkite said,
"Probably 24 hours after I told CBS that I was stepping down, at my 65th birthday, I was already regretting it. And I regretted it every day since."
"Deferring retirement is probably the best piece of advice I can offer," says Olivia Mitchell, executive director of the Pension Research Council at the Wharton School. (WSJ 8/23)
I agree with Olivia's advice, but it is probably easier for a professor to say than for a coal miner to hear.
"The federal investment in finding cures for cancer – $3 billion annually [as of 1999] – is less than ... zero ... point ... zero ...zero ... zero ... four ... percent of our gross domestic product, or about one-seventh of what Americans spend on beauty products." --- Michael Milken.
"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul." --- George Bernard Shaw
Since everyone in American thinks he or she is middle class, the appeal of a middle class tax cut is irresistible --- even if a trifle hokey.
“It does not matter how the facts occur in life. It matters how they are told.” --- Elsa Morante, quoted in the NYTs review of Woman of Rome (9/14/08)
“Mutual funds are moving away from being a mass-market product, and becoming more of a niche product aimed at elderly investors who don’t know any better and who don’t worry much about total expense ratios.” --- Felix Salmon ( 6 Nov 09)
"Always watch the rats, not the people. The rats know when to leave the ship, even if the people don't." --- a comment by the cloaked identity Cognitive Dissonance over at Zero Hedge. I may know this rat, who is speaking about finacial postions.
When Roberto Benigni received the Academy Award for Life is Beautiful he said:
“I would like to thank my parents in a little village in Italy. They gave me the biggest gift --- of poverty --- and I want to thank them for the rest of my life.”
His speech is guaranteed to bring tears --- and laughter.