The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them. - Moshe Ben-David, quoted at
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2011/08/spenditol.html

You . . . may think wisdom comes with age.
Believe me, . . . age often comes alone.
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. (1924-2006) _Letters To A Young Doubter_ [2005], Chapter 2

The ruling motif in Calvinism is, "In the beginning God..." (Gen. 1:1). -Joel Beeke

A city is [not] fortunate when its walls are standing, while its morals are in ruins. - Augustine (354-430) _The City Of God_ [415], Book I

I myself was exceedingly astonished as I anxiously
reflected how long a time had elapsed since the
nineteenth year of my life, when I began to burn
with a zeal for wisdom, planning that when I had
found it I would abandon all the empty hopes and
lying follies of hollow ambitions.
And here I was already thirty, and still mucking
about in the same mire in a state of indecision,
avid to enjoy present fugitive delights which were
dispersing my concentration, while I was saying:
"Tomorrow I shall find it; see, it will become
perfectly clear, and I shall have no more
doubts. . . ." - Augustine (354-430) _Confessions_ [397-401]; Book VI, Number 11