Adam Smith (1723–1790) Scottish moral philosopher and political economist
Source: The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book IV, Chapter VIII, p. 721.
The Source and Value of the "Mysteries" (1888)
Adam Smith (1723–1790) Scottish moral philosopher and political economist
Source: The Wealth of Nations (1776), Book IV, Chapter VIII, p. 721.
Roy A. Childs, Jr. (1949–1992) American libertarian essayist and critic
“Objectivism and the State: An Open Letter to Ayn Rand,” 1969
Tony Benn (1925–2014) British Labour Party politician
Speech http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1990/nov/22/confidence-in-her-majestys-government in the House of Commons (22 November 1990) on the day Margaret Thatcher announced her intention to resign. <br class="br">1990s
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor
As quoted in "A Visit to Nikola Tesla" by Dragislav L. Petković in Politika (April 1927); also in Tesla, Master of Lightning (1999) by Margaret Cheney, Robert Uth, and Jim Glenn, p. 82
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) American politician, 30th president of the United States (in office from 1923 to 1929)
1920s, The Reign of Law (1925)
“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Variant: No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come
“An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo (1802–1885) French poet, novelist, and dramatist
Learned Hand (1872–1961) American legal scholar, Court of Appeals judge
"A Fanfare for Prometheus" (29 January 1955); also in The Spirit of Liberty: Papers and Addresses (1952), p. 131.
Extra-judicial writings
Donald Rumsfeld (1932) U.S. Secretary of Defense
[Troops put Rumsfeld in the hot seat, http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/08/rumsfeld.kuwait/index.html, 2006-04-07, 2004-12-08, CNN]
Responding to the question "Now why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to up armor our vehicles, and why don't we have those resources readily available to us?"
2000s