Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] interesting quotations

["Jonathan King" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On 10/2/07, Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED> wrote:
> Below are some interesting quotations that I found on this page:
>
> http://www.slate.com/id/2561/
>
> The author of that article, Herbert Stein, died in 1999.  In
> addition to many professional achievements, he was Ben
> Stein's father:

The most famous of these quotations is, however, Stein's Law:

# If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.

The thing I like about this one is that it is obviously true, and
unexpectedly deep. So I find it intersting to see Stein's own take on
this aphorism (there's no rush to end something that is doomed to end
anyway), which is a deeply conservative notion. My take on it has
always been much less about whether one should intervene or not, and
more about _sustainability_, which I would argue is also a deeply
conservative notion, albeit one that has fewer fans among
conservatives these days.

Really, if Herbert Stein had done nothing else in his life that was
worthwhile, I think he would (or should) be remembered for Stein's
Law, which is probably even more important than Little's Law, and
that's saying a lot.

jking

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