Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire RIP P. J. O’Rourke

I've always enjoyed reading P.J.'s writings. From his beginnings at National Lampoon to The Atlantic Monthly and so many of his books.

A few of his best quotes,

"There is only one basic human right: the right to do as you please, without causing others harm. With it comes our only basic human duty: the duty to accept the consequences of our actions."

"Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work, and then they get elected and prove it."

"The Three Branches of Government: Money, Television, and Bullshit"

"It remains to be seen which program will cause greater societal damage: China's one-child policy or America's one-parent policy."

"Politicians are always interested in people. Not that this is always a virtue. Fleas are interested in dogs."

"One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license."

"The second item in the liberal creed, after self-righteousness, is unaccountability. Liberals have invented whole college majors--psychology, sociology, women's studies--to prove that nothing is anybody's fault. No one is fond of taking responsibility for his actions, but consider how much you'd have to hate free will to come up with a political platform that advocates killing unborn babies but not convicted murderers. A callous pragmatist might favor abortion and capital punishment. A devout Christian would sanction neither. But it takes years of therapy to arrive at the liberal view."

"Not being a liberal, I have very little grasp of things that I know nothing about."

"Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and would boss the grass in the meadow about which way to bend in the wind are the most depraved kind of prostitutes. They will submit to any indignity, perform any vile act, do anything to achieve power. The worst off-sloughings of the planet are the ingredients of sovereignty. Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy the whores are us."



R.I.P. P.J.