20 P.J. O’Rourke Quotes on Politics and Life
These P.J. O’Rourke quotes are both inspirational and entertaining. Enjoy!
P.J. O’Rourke was a journalist and political satirist who spoke his mind freely without holding back.
O’Rourke claimed he was a leftist while in college and an anti-war hippie.
However, his political opinions and stances changed during the 1970s when he began identifying as a libertarian conservative.
He was a correspondent for The American Spectator, The Weekly Standard, and The Atlantic Monthly.
In addition, he spent five years writing for The Daily Beast.
He also wrote articles for several underground newspapers, including The Rip Off Review of Western Culture, Harry, and New York Ace.
O’Rourke eventually joined National Lampoon as editor-in-chief.
O’Rourke has a long list of other accomplishments, including freelance writing work for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.
Don’t also forget to check out these Chuck Palahniuk quotes from the New York Times bestselling author.
Best P.J. O’Rourke quotes
1. “Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.” – P.J. O’Rourke
2. “If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.” – P.J. O’Rourke
3. “The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn’t work, and then they get elected and prove it.” – P.J. O’Rourke
4. “At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child – miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats.” – P.J. O’Rourke
5. “Wherever there’s injustice, oppression, and suffering, America will show up six months late and bomb the country next to where it’s happening.” – P.J. O’Rourke
6. It’s better to spend money like there’s no tomorrow than to spend tonight like there’s no money.” – P.J. O’Rourke
7. “We had a choice between Democrats who couldn’t learn from the past and Republicans who couldn’t stop living in it…” – P.J. O’Rourke
8. “The good news is that, according to the Obama administration, the rich will pay for everything. The bad news is that, according to the Obama administration, you’re rich.” – P.J. O’Rourke
9. “The average IQ in America is—and this can be proven mathematically—average.” – P.J. O’Rourke
10. “Liberals are always proposing perfectly insane ideas, laws that will make everybody happy, laws that will make everything right, make us live forever, and all be rich. Conservatives are never that stupid.” – P.J. O’Rourke
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P.J. O’Rourke quotes that will make your day
11. “Anyway, not even alcohol causes the fundamental ills of society. If we’re looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn’t test people for drugs; we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power.” – P.J. O’Rourke
12. “Political leaders are expert at saying nothing.” – P.J. O’Rourke
13. “Globalization is simply opening the free marketplace to encompass the entire world.” – P.J. O’Rourke
14. “There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.” – P.J. O’Rourke
15. “America wasn’t founded so that we could all be better. America was founded so we could all be anything we damned well pleased.” – P.J. O’Rourke
16. “A U.S. dollar is an IOU from the Federal Reserve Bank. It’s a promissory note that doesn’t actually promise anything. It’s not backed by gold or silver.” – P.J. O’Rourke
17. “Politics is the attempt to achieve power and prestige without merit.” – P.J. O’Rourke
18. “Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely.” – P.J. O’Rourke
19. “There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point, complexity is fraud. You can apply that rule to left-wing social programs, but you can also apply that rule to credit derivatives, hedge funds, all the rest of it.” – P.J. O’Rourke
20. “The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall; the unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except there is nothing in the mall, and if you don’t go there, they shoot you.” – P.J. O’Rourke
What did you learn from these P.J. O’Rourke quotes?
P.J. O’Rourke authored more than 20 books throughout his life.
Three of those books became New York Times bestsellers, including Give War a Chance and Parliament of Whores, which both reached number one on the list.
O’Rourke also was a part of Real Time with Bill Maher and British Airways.
He also invested time into screenplays and worked on Easy Money with Rodney Dangerfield.
O’Rourke was married twice in his life and fathered three children.
His second marriage was in 1995, and they remained married until his passing in 2022.
He battled rectal cancer in 1995, which was treatable, but eventually died due to lung cancer.
What’s your biggest takeaway from these P.J. O’Rourke quotes and sayings?
