#ability

Disorder is inherent in stability. Civilized man doesn't understand stability. He's confused it with rigidity. Our political and economic and social leaders drool about stability constantly. It's their favorite word, next to 'power.' 'Gotta stabilize the political situation in Southeast Asia, gotta stabilize oil production and consumption, gotta stabilize student opposition to the government' and so forth. Stabilization to them means order, uniformity, control. And that's a half-witted and potentially genocidal misconception. No matter how thoroughly they control a system, disorder invariably leaks into it. Then the managers panic, rush to plug the leak and endeavor to tighten the controls. Therefore, totalitarianism grows in viciousness and scope. And the blind pity is, rigidity isn't the same as stability at all. True stability results when presumed order and presumed disorder are balanced. A truly stable system expects the unexpected, is prepared to be disrupted, waits to be transformed. ↗

— Tom Robbins

#order #rigidity #stability #totalitarianism #totalitarianism

My mother has rheumatoid arthritis. I don't want to lose the ability to jump up and walk across the room or move around with the energy I'm used to having. That's far more important to me than a wrinkle or two. ↗

— Cheryl Ladd

#across #around #arthritis #energy #far

And let the Fed sell bonds to bring bank reserves back down to required reserve levels, so we have restraint on bank lending and bank issuances of liability. ↗

— Arthur Laffer

#bank #bonds #bring #down #fed

If you are carrying strong feelings about something that happened in your past, they may hinder your ability to live in the present. ↗

— Les Brown

#about #carrying #feelings #happened #hinder

I am not here concerned with intent, but with scientific standards, especially the ability to tell the difference between a fact, an opinion, a hypothesis, and a hole in the ground. ↗

— Serge Lang

#am #between #concerned #difference #especially

Common sense should tell us that there is no reason for civilians to have access to easily concealable handguns with the capability to shoot through body armor. ↗

— Carl Levin

#armor #body #capability #civilians #common

We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them. ↗

— Carl Levin

#belief #building #common #common belief #delivering

When I've gone back to work, it's always with that sense of inevitability. That may be a complete delusion, but it's the one that I need to get out of bed and go about my business. That sense that I can't avoid this thing. I better just get on with it. ↗

— Daniel Day-Lewis

#always #avoid #back #bed #better

War should be the only study of a prince. He should consider peace only as a breathing-time, which gives him leisure to contrive, and furnishes as ability to execute, military plans. ↗

— Niccolo Machiavelli

#consider #contrive #execute #furnishes #gives

God does not begin by asking our ability, only our availability, and if we prove our dependability, He will increase our capability. ↗

— Neal A. Maxwell

#asking #availability #begin #capability #does