John McCarthy

“Once a person has killed other people on behalf of an ideology, he becomes rather devoted to it.”

“The slogan was 'Don't trust anyone over thirty'. Sixty years later the slogan became, 'Don't trust anyone over ninety'.”

“His ambition is to be the spider in the World Wide Web.”

“The peace movement is a great force for peace. Some of the world's most quarrelsome people act out their aggressions through the peace movement.”

“In human history, the desire for revenge and the desire for loot have often been closely associated.”

“Hard distinctions make bad philosophy.”

“Hardly anyone has noticed that in the Northern Hemisphere people stir their drinks counterclockwise, whereas the same people stir their drinks clockwise when visiting the Southern Hemisphere.”

“Language is froth on the surface of thought.”

“It is said that man doesn't live by bread alone. Sometimes this is unfortunate, because people who cannot live by bread alone too often kill other people in consequence of the fights they get into.”

“Suicidal terrorists may have short shelf lives.”

“Honor among thieves is the ancestor of all honor.”

“A declining institution often experiences survival of the unfittest.”

“When thugs by nature meet thugs by political conviction, 5-0 is not surprising.”

“If I owned Marseilles and Hell, I'd rent out Marseilles and live in Hell.”

“If a person can be said to have the wrong attitude, there is no need to pay attention to his arguments.”

“Committing genocide on behalf of an institution generates greater loyalty to it than merely getting people fired from their jobs on its behalf.”

“Of course, Third World leaders love you. By ascribing third world ills to First World sins, you absolve them of blame for their countries' failure to advance.”

“Never abandon a theory that explains something until you have a theory that explains more.”

“A true intellectual is a man who, after reading a book and being convinced by its arguments, will shoot someone or, more likely, order someone shot.”

“Self-righteousness has killed more people than smoking.”