Penn Jillette: Right

Penn Jillette is American magician. Explore interesting quotes on right.
Penn Jillette: 98   quotes 2   likes

“Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.”

Penn Jillette

2010s, I don't know, so I'm an atheist libertarian (2011)
Context: Government is force — literally, not figuratively.
I don't believe the majority always knows what's best for everyone. The fact that the majority thinks they have a way to get something good does not give them the right to use force on the minority that don't want to pay for it. If you have to use a gun, I don't believe you really know jack. Democracy without respect for individual rights sucks. It's just ganging up against the weird kid, and I'm always the weird kid.

Democracy

“If you told me right now I could have another eight years of Obama, I would not hesitate to grab at it.”

Penn Jillette

2010s, Why Penn Jillette is Terrified of a President Trump (2016)
Context: The problem is, I know Trump, so my optimism has been squashed like a baby bird … Everything bad I had to say about him, I said to his face. … I think he’s very good, very compelling on that show [Celebrity Apprentice] … I really like him because of his absence of filters. I really like the glimpse we get into the human heart we get when someone loses their filters … If he weren’t running for president, you’d be seeing essays from me about how much I learned from Donald Trump and how much I loved being on the show … I’m feeling so, so, so guilty, because I feel like, along with millions of other people, I played right into this. The cynicism of the Clintons, the careful, tightrope walk of all politicians, forced me, as an atheist, to get down on my knees and pray that someone would come along with some kind of authenticity … Well, someone called my bluff, goddamn it. … I’m a pure and utter peacenik. I want a president who sings the praises of people, sings the praises of peace and sings the praises of working together for a great country … Abraham Lincoln wouldn’t have laughed about waterboarding … If you told me right now I could have another eight years of Obama, I would not hesitate to grab at it. … He is unquestionably good and unquestionably smarter than I am, which is putting the bar pretty low. I want a president that is kinder, smarter and more measured than me.

“Believing there's no God means I can't really be forgiven except by kindness and faulty memories. That's good; it makes me want to be more thoughtful. I have to try to treat people right the first time around.”

Penn Jillette

2000s, There Is No God (2005)

God , People , Memory , Time

“If you can just convince the dope people that the gun people are right and the gun people that the dope people are right, we could actually live in a lot more freedom.”

Penn Jillette

Glenn Beck program on CNN (2 November 2006) http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0611/02/gb.01.html
2000s

People , Freedom

“Interviewer: Are there any groups you won’t go after?
Penn: We haven’t tackled Scientology [in Penn & Teller: Bullshit! ] because Showtime doesn’t want us to. Maybe they have deals with individual Scientologists—I’m not sure. And we haven’t tackled Islam because we have families.
Interviewer: Meaning, you won’t attack Islam because you’re afraid it’ll attack back …
Penn: Right, and I think the worst thing you can say about a group in a free society is that you’re afraid to talk about it—I can’t think of anything more horrific.”

Penn Jillette

Interview in Las Vegas Weekly (24 June 2010) https://lasvegasweekly.com/ae/2010/jun/24/celebrity-issue/.
2010s

Family , Thinking

“Every nut who kills people has a Bible lying around. If you're looking for violent rape imagery, the Bible's right there in your hotel room. If you just want to look up ways to screw people up, there it is, and you're justified because God told you to.”

Penn Jillette

"Bull Sessions with Penn Jillette" http://www.reason.com/blog/show/124420.html Reason (15 January 2008)
2000s

God , People , Way , Lying

“It's amazing to me how many people think that voting to have the government give poor people money is compassion. Helping poor and suffering people is compassion. Voting for our government to use guns to give money to help poor and suffering people is immoral self-righteous bullying laziness.
People need to be fed, medicated, educated, clothed, and sheltered, and if we're compassionate we'll help them, but you get no moral credit for forcing other people to do what you think is right. There is great joy in helping people, but no joy in doing it at gunpoint.”

Penn Jillette

2010s, I don't know, so I'm an atheist libertarian (2011)

Money , People , Education , Thinking

“Freedom means the right to be stupid.”

Penn Jillette

Free FM Radio Show (15 September 2006)
2000s

Stupidity , Freedom

“Every time something really bad happens, people cry out for safety, and the government answers by taking rights away from good people.”

Penn Jillette

Penn and Teller's How to Play in Traffic (1997), p. 35
1990s

Bad luck , Cry , People , Time