“What would you cut out of government expenditures?”

“Military men, when confronted with the mutterings of disaffected taxpayers, always pointed out how good these government military expenditures were for business.”

“If a tax cut increases government revenues, you haven't cut taxes enough.”

“Public decision making is complicated and not well understood. Contrary to simple methods of democracy, there appear to be forces pulling government expenditures away from levels that would be preferred by the median voter.”

“If you cut a branch out of my forests, I'd cut your head off!”

“If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people. You should use them according to the seasons (i. e. You should not enlist farmers during seeding or harvest time).”

“It would be impossible to reach unanimity on every aspect of our budget, but it's clear there is widespread support for the concept of change. We face a choice between either cutting waste out of government, or facing a new job killing tax increase every year from here on out.”

“Reality offers us such wealth that we must cut some of it out on the spot, simplify. The question is, do we always cut out what we should? ­”

“We define agency costs as the sum of:
(1) the monitoring expenditures by the principal,
(2) the bonding expenditures by the agent,
(3) the residual loss.
Note also that agency costs arise in any situation involving cooperative effort… by two or more people even though there is no clear cut principal-agent relationship.”

“I wouldn't cut you out of my life Clary, any more than I would cut off my right hand and give it to someone as a Valentine's Day gift."
Gross," said Clary. "Must you?"
Simon grinned. "I must.”