They say you can't study Kabbalah until you are at least 40 years old. You know why? You have to have experienced at least one generation making the same mistakes as the previous one.
David MametRead
It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The government should not define what citizens need.
This quote emphasizes the idea that the role of the government is not to dictate the needs of its citizens. Instead, it suggests that individuals are best suited to determine their own needs and make choices that reflect their personal circumstances and desires. The quote urges a reflection on the balance of power between individuals and government, advocating for personal autonomy and responsibility over government intervention.
Themes
GovernmentNeedsAutonomyIndividualismResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
Citing this quote in a debate on welfare policies to argue for limited government intervention.
More from David Mamet
All quotes βMy alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.
David MametRead
You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
David MametRead
It's hard for a Jew of my generation, an American Jew, who is philo-Zionistic, not to romanticize Israel.
David MametRead
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
David MametRead
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
David MametRead
Similar quotes
Mythology is often defined as 'other peoples' religions', religion can be thought of as misinterpreted mythology.
Joseph CampbellRead
The remarkable insights that science affords us into the intelligible workings of the world cry out for an explanation more profound than that which itself can provide. Religion, if it is to take seriously its claim that the world is the creation of god, must be humble enough to learn from science what that world is actually like. The dialogue between them can only be mutually enriching.
John PolkinghorneRead
Do not believe that others will die, not you.... I have wrestled with Thanatos knee to knee and I know how death is vanquished. Man's immortality is not to live forever; for that wish is born of fear. Each moment free from fear makes a man immortal.
Mary RenaultRead
Hunger has no ideology. It does not respond to party or to rant. Hunger, in short, is not a red state/blue state problem.
Donna BrazileRead
Silence is ever speaking; it is the perennial flow of language.
Ramana MaharshiRead
To wage a war for a purely moral reason is as absurd as to ravish a woman for a purely moral reason
H. L. MenckenRead