Quotes about private
page 16

Saffron Burrows photo

“...people shouldn’t have to make statements and their lives should be private if they want to be. But I think if someone’s feeling restricted by not making a statement, then they should be free to do so. I chose to speak to you because I don’t want to lie by omission and I want to be very straightforward about my life...”

Saffron Burrows (1972) English actress, model and writer

On whether people should feel the need to "come out" and be a role model in “Saffron Burrows: ‘I’m really proud of my family and who they are’” https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/dec/01/saffron-burrows-married-to-alison-balian-mozart-in-the-jungle in The Guardian (2014 Dec 01)

Trevor Loudon photo
Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo

“What lies behind the complaint about the dearth of civil courage? In recent years we have seen a great deal of bravery and self-sacrifice, but civil courage hardly anywhere, even among ourselves. To attribute this simply to personal cowardice would be too facile a psychology; its background is quite different. In a long history, we Germans have had to learn the need for and the strength of obedience. In the subordination of all personal wishes and ideas to the tasks to which we have been called, we have seen the meaning and greatness of our lives. We have looked upwards, not in servile fear, but in free trust, seeing in our tasks a call, and in our call a vocation. This readiness to follow a command from "above" rather than our own private opinions and wishes was a sign of legitimate self-distrust. Who would deny that in obedience, in their task and calling, the Germans have again and again shown the utmost bravery and self-sacrifice? But the German has kept his freedom — and what nation has talked more passionately of freedom than the Germans, from Luther to the idealist philosophers?”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

by seeking deliverance from self-will through service to the community. Calling and freedom were to him two sides of the same thing. But in this he misjudged the world; he did not realize that his submissiveness and self-sacrifice could be exploited for evil ends. When that happened, the exercise of the calling itself became questionable, and all the moral principles of the German were bound to totter. The fact could not be escaped that the Germans still lacked something fundamental: he could not see the need for free and responsible action, even in opposition to the task and his calling; in its place there appeared on the one hand an irresponsible lack of scruple, and on the other a self-tormenting punctiliousness that never led to action. Civil courage, in fact, can grow only out of the free responsibility of free men. Only now are the Germans beginning to discover the meaning of free responsibility. It depends on a God who demands responsible action in a bold venture of faith, and who promises forgiveness and consolation to the man who becomes a sinner in that venture.
Source: Letters and Papers from Prison (1967; 1997), Civil Courage, p. 5

John Stuart Mill photo
Donald J. Trump photo

“My administration has done a job on really working across government and with the private sector, and it’s been incredible. It’s a beautiful thing to watch, I have to say. Unfortunately, the end result of the group we’re fighting — which are hundreds of billions and trillions of germs, or whatever you want to call them — they are bad news. This virus is bad news and it moves quickly, and it spreads as easily as anything anyone has ever seen.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

As quoted in Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with Supply Chain Distributors on COVID-19 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-supply-chain-distributors-covid-19/ (March 29, 2020), whitehouse.gov.
2020s, 2020, March

Michael Hudson (economist) photo
Noam Chomsky photo
Richard D. Wolff photo
Thomas Jefferson photo

“If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by the bloodstained steel, or the tattered flags of the tented field, will never be envied. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

Letter to the Republican Citizens of Washington County, Maryland (31 March 1809), published in The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (1871), edited by H. A. Washington, Vol. 8, p. 165 https://www.bartleby.com/73/778.html
1800s, Post-Presidency (1809)

William Cobbett photo
Lois McMaster Bujold photo

“I mean, look, I just broke into your private files. If I were you, I’d be more than a little upset.”

Steve Perry (1947) American writer

Pen crinkled. “I’m not. It shows initiative.”

Chapter 14 (p. 113)
Matadora (1986)

John Stossel photo

“What private property does is connect effort to reward,
creating an incentive for people to produce more.
Then, if there's a free market,
people will trade their surpluses to each other for the things they lack.
Mutual exchange for mutual benefit makes the community richer.”

John Stossel (1947) American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist

Source: The Tragedy of the Commons https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=3893247&page=1, ABC News (21 November 2007)

George Monbiot photo
William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim photo

“Private armies, and for that matter private air forces- are expensive, wasteful, and unnecessary.”

William Slim, 1st Viscount Slim (1891–1970) former Governor-General of Australia

Source: Defeat Into Victory (1961), p. 457

Jacques Delors photo

“Socialism was not the socialization of losses and the privatization of profits.”

Jacques Delors (1925) French economist and politician

Speech (26 June 1981), quoted in The Times (27 June 1981), p. 17
French Minister of Finance

Karl Pearson photo
Rand Paul photo
Milton Friedman photo
Milton Friedman photo
Milton Friedman photo
Dorothy Thompson photo
Dorothy Thompson photo
Dorothy Thompson photo

“The production of wealth by private enterprise is called Capitalism. It is hard to call Capitalism one of the isms, because Capitalism is not a creed at all. Capitalism was not ‘invented’ by any sociologist or philosopher. Capitalists never called themselves that. The word was invented by socialists to describe what they hated.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
Source: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)
p. 25

Stephen Vincent Benét photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“There are a number of ways by which the Federal Government can meet its responsibilities to aid economic growth. We can and must improve American education and technical training. We can and must expand civilian research and technology. One of the great bottlenecks for this country's economic growth in this decade will be the shortage of doctorates in mathematics, engineering, and physics; a serious shortage with a great demand and an under-supply of highly trained manpower. We can and must step up the development of our natural resources. But the most direct and significant kind of Federal action aiding economic growth is to make possible an increase in private consumption and investment demand--to cut the fetters which hold back private spending. In the past, this could be done in part by the increased use of credit and monetary tools, but our balance of payments situation today places limits on our use of those tools for expansion. It could also be done by increasing Federal expenditures more rapidly than necessary, but such a course would soon demoralize both the Government and our economy. If Government is to retain the confidence of the people, it must not spend more than can be justified on grounds of national need or spent with maximum efficiency.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

Source: 1962, Address and Question and Answer Period at the Economic Club of New York

Niccolo Machiavelli photo
Niccolo Machiavelli photo
Théodore Guérin photo
Jon Ossoff photo
Mohammad Al Gergawi photo

“In today’s world, governments cannot create the future on their own; it is important to involve everyone including the private sector, the youth, international partners and others in creating policies."”

Mohammad Al Gergawi (1963) Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the Chairman of the Executive Office in Dubai.

Statement during the third Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Future Councils as quoted in Mohammed bin Rashid attends opening session of the Annual Meeting of WEF’s Global Future Councils http://Mohammed%20bin%20Rashid%20attends%20opening%20session%20of%20the%20Annual%20Meeting%20of%20WEF’s%20Global%20Future%20Councils in Wam (11th November, 2018).
2018
Source: http://wam.ae/en/details/1395302719712

Michael J. Sandel photo
Adolf Hitler photo

“We stand for the maintenance of private property... We shall protect free enterprise as the most expedient, or rather the sole possible economic order.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

Quoted in Der Fuehrer, Hitler's Rise to Power https://www.google.it/books/edition/Der_Fuehrer/_lUTAQAAMAAJ?hl=it&gbpv=1&bsq=%22We+stand+for+the+maintenance+of+private+property...+We+shall+protect+free+enterprise+as+the+most+expedient,+or+rather+the+sole+possible+economic+order.%22&dq=%22We+stand+for+the+maintenance+of+private+property...+We+shall+protect+free+enterprise+as+the+most+expedient,+or+rather+the+sole+possible+economic+order.%22&printsec=frontcover, by Konrad Heiden. Statement of the 1920.
1920s

Thomas Jefferson photo

“The art and mystery of banks… is established on the principle that 'private debts are a public blessing.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

That the evidences of those private debts, called bank notes, become active capital, and aliment the whole commerce, manufactures, and agriculture of the United States. Here are a set of people, for instance, who have bestowed on us the great blessing of running in our debt about two hundred millions of dollars, without our knowing who they are, where they are, or what property they have to pay this debt when called on; nay, who have made us so sensible of the blessings of letting them run in our debt, that we have exempted them by law from the repayment of these debts beyond a give proportion (generally estimated at one-third). And to fill up the measure of blessing, instead of paying, they receive an interest on what they owe from those to whom they owe; for all the notes, or evidences of what they owe, which we see in circulation, have been lent to somebody on an interest which is levied again on us through the medium of commerce. And they are so ready still to deal out their liberalities to us, that they are now willing to let themselves run in our debt ninety millions more, on our paying them the same premium of six or eight per cent interest, and on the same legal exemption from the repayment of more than thirty millions of the debt, when it shall be called for.
ME 13:420
1810s, Letters to John Wayles Eppes (1813)

Maximilien Robespierre photo

“The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.”

Maximilien Robespierre (1758–1794) French revolutionary lawyer and politician

Misc Quotes

Ayuel Monykuch photo
Neo Masisi photo

“As women, we need to continue to rise in our capacity as leaders in civil society, private sector, public sector and other spheres-to look at how we can help each other thrive in environments where we grow, where we are supported and protected.”

Neo Masisi (1962) first lady of Botswana

Source: Botswana: First Lady Neo Jane Masisi Speech Delivered At the Virtual Launch of the W Summit Diamond Impact Week 2020 https://allafrica.com/stories/202012040594.html (4 December 2020)

Isaac Asimov photo

“Private profit is often hidden under a careful coating of great patriotism.”

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992) American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, known for his works of science fiction …

The Roman Republic (1966), p. 128
General sources

Hugh Gaitskell photo

“So long as production is left to the uncontrolled decisions of private individuals, conducted, guided and inspired by the motive of profit, so long will Poverty, Insecurity and Injustice continue.”

Hugh Gaitskell (1906–1963) British politician

'Why I Am a Socialist', South Leeds Worker (December 1937), quoted in Philip Williams, Hugh Gaitskell: A Political Biography (1979), p. 68

“No purpose is served by making private suffering into a public event.”

Source: The Heritage Universe, Summertide (1990), Chapter 23 (p. 254)

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Yiannis Laouris photo
Charles Coughlin photo

“I believe in upholding the right to private property but in controlling it for the public good.”

Charles Coughlin (1891–1979) Catholic priest, radio commentator

Broadcast speech (Nov. 11, 1934)

Angela Davis photo
Rajiv Malhotra photo

“The contradiction between Christian exclusivism and true liberalism is seldom discussed openly and perhaps even privately.”

Source: Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism (2011)

Buchi Emecheta photo
Arundhati Roy photo
Vera Stanley Alder photo

“What is happening in the world today? We have been living through an epoch in which wars, tyrannies and privations seem to have reached their peak...”

Vera Stanley Alder (1898–1984) British artist

Source: Humanity Comes of Age, A study of Individual and World Fulfillment (1950), Introduction p. I - XII

William F. Albright photo
Ro Khanna photo

“My bill would allow people to become an apprentice as a painter, as a glazier, as an electrician, to work for a small business, for a union doing private work, and really develop the skills to have meaningful work in either the public sector or the private sector.”

Ro Khanna (1976) U.S. Representative from California

Source: Quoted in California congressman has a “jobs for all” plan to unite both wings of the Democratic Party, By A.P. Joyce, Mic https://mic.com/articles/189491/california-congressman-has-a-jobs-for-all-plan-to-unite-both-wings-of-the-democratic-party# (28 May 2018)

Clifford D. Simak photo
Delcy Rodríguez photo

“Today the private sector of Venezuela is becoming less dependent on oil income. It's becoming a sector that invests, produces and finds in Venezuela a space where it can develop its potential.”

Delcy Rodríguez (1969) Venezuelan politician and lawyer

Source: Delcy Rodríguez (2021) cited in: " Can Maduro’s reluctant reforms halt Venezuela’s economic freefall? https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/economy/can-maduros-reluctant-reforms-halt-venezuelas-economic-freefall.phtml" in BA Times, 25 June 2021.

Ulisses Correia e Silva photo

“We seek greater integration of markets, trade, connectivity, private investments and tourism. Cape Verde wishes to position itself as an air and digital hub in Africa and integrate regional value chains in trade and industry.”

Ulisses Correia e Silva (1962) Cape Verdean politician

Source: Ulisses Correia e Silva (2021) cited in " Cape Verde Prime Minister presents first resident Nigerian ambassador to ECOWAS Commission https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/11/cape-verde-prime-minister-presents-first-resident-nigerian-ambassador-to-ecowas-commission/" on Vanguard, 21 November 2021.

Laurence Tribe photo

“[T]here are plenty of things besides private action that the Constitution is "not about."”

Laurence Tribe (1941) American lawyer and law school professor

Soundings and Silences (2016)

Alastair Reynolds photo
Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo
Vera Stanley Alder photo

“The terrible exploitation of native labor and destruction of native home life and the degenerating living conditions which have often been the result of private enterprise will no longer be possible.”

Vera Stanley Alder (1898–1984) British artist

Source: Humanity Comes of Age, A study of Individual and World Fulfillment (1950), Chapter VII The Council for Economics

Bruno Magras photo

“Private air is a way of living for people who come here.”

Bruno Magras (1951) French politician

Saint Barthélemy
Bruno Magras (2016) cited in: " As the Jet Set Arrives in St. Barts, Is There Trouble in Paradise? https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a8523/bruno-magras-st-barts/" in Town&Country, 28 November 2016.

Jonathan Bailey photo

“It is a private matter [sexuality], but if there are opportunities to say something . . . I wonder if, if it would be beneficial to someone else, that responsibility is on you. It’s complicated.”

Jonathan Bailey (1988) British actor

"Jonathan Bailey: From Broadchurch to the West End: the star of Sondheim’s smash hit Company in The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/from-broadchurch-to-the-west-end-the-star-of-sondheims-smash-hit-company-mjppfprkr (31 October 2018)

Michael Hudson (economist) photo

“I never felt my priesthood was a private possession. I always felt I was a priest for people.”

John Joseph Gerry (1927–2017) Australian priest

A memory of the heart https://catholicleader.com.au/people/a-memory-of-the-heart/ (3 July 2015)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali photo

“So this, in a nutshell, was my Enlightenment: free inquiry, universal education, individual freedom, the outlawing of private violence, and the protection of individual property rights.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

Source: 2010s, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (2010), Chapter 14, “Opening the Muslim Mind: An Enlightenment Mind” (p. 212)

Ayaan Hirsi Ali photo

“The fundamentalists seem haunted by the human body and neurotically debate which fractions of it should be covered, until they declare the whole thing, from head to toe, a gigantic private part.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

Source: 2010s, Nomad: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations (2010), Chapter 11, “School and Sexuality” (p. 154)

Lil Wayne photo

“I put piss stains on private planes cuz its my jet nigga”

Lil Wayne (1982) American rapper, singer, record executive and businessman

Source: Tha Block Is Hot (1999)

Prevale photo

“In any kind of work, professionalism is demonstrated by seriousness. A true professional will never allow his private life to interfere with his work life.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: In qualsiasi tipo di lavoro, la professionalità si dimostra con la serietà. Un vero professionista non permetterà mai che la sua vita privata interferisca con quella lavorativa.
Source: prevale.net