Paul

“one’s concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one’s distance from the scene of conflict.”
― Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals

“Use convention to govern a state, use surprise in waging war, use disinterest to take the world. How do I know this is so? When there are many taboos in the world, the people grow poorer and poorer. When the people have many weapons, the nation grows more benighted. When the people are very crafty, weird things arise more and more. The greater the articulation of rules of law, the more brigands and outlaws there are. Therefore a wise rulers says, “If I contrive nothing, the people will naturally be civilized. If I am fond of tranquility, the people will naturally be upright.  If I am disinterested, the people will naturally become rich.  If I want not to want, the people will naturally be innocent.”
― Lao Tzu, The Original Tao Te Ching

“Do not disturb your mind,” said Imlac, “with other hopes or fears than reason may suggest; if you are pleased with the prognostics of good, you will be terrified likewise with tokens of evil, and your whole life will be a prey to superstition.”
― Samuel Johnson

“Through a web of laws, regulations, and informal rules, all of which are powerfully reinforced by social stigma, they are confined to the margins of mainstream society and denied access to the mainstream economy.”
― Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness