177 Quotes by Robert B. Reich

One thing I’ve learned from 35 years in the classroom is that people learn best when they are laughing, when they are emotionally hit, that it’s both the brain and the heart.

Cynicism is the largest obstacle to social change. Cynicism is dangerous because people throw up their hands and say, “Well it’s not possible. Why should I even try?”

We already have an annual wealth tax on homes, the major asset of the middle class. It’s called the property tax. Why not a small annual tax on the value of stocks and bonds, the major assets of the wealthy?

In all, 62 percent of the budget cuts would come from low-income programs. Yet at the same time, the Republican budget would provide a substantial tax cut to the rich – who are already taking home an almost unprecedented share of the nation’s total income.

There will always be a business cycle, and white-collar workers will get hit in the next recession like they always do in recessions.

The biggest political divide in America today is not between Republicans and Democrats. It’s between democracy and oligarchy. Hearing and using the same old labels prevents most people from noticing they’re being shafted.

We can’t know in advance what history is going to say, but I would be utterly amazed and surprised if American invasion to Iraq from the beginning of its inception, were not judged to be an utter failure and a terrible, terrible thing for the world.

I think that in politics, when people want to discredit a particular position, they say, “Oh, they are liberals,” or “They are conservatives; we are centrists.” Everybody wants to be a centrist.

The Democratic Party is DEAD.