Anyone can begin the practice of freedom whenever he chooses to do so. It is easy, and one need not wait upon other persons to agree before he begins. No committee resolutions or elections or laws are needed for a person to begin the practice of freedom.

One need merely resolve not to impose his will -- legally or illegally -- upon his peaceful fellowmen in their religions, their economic theories, their attitudes, their morals, their mores or whatever. And then start to practice it.

  --Dean Russell

From the Notebooks of Lazarus Long

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as "bad luck".

The Further Adventures of Ferdinand Feghoot

Charles Curley

Ferdinand Feghoot was well known throughout the galaxy as a coiner of names, a neologist, a veritable nomenclaturist. So it was no surprise when the people of Nifflheim came to Ferdinand to name an industry which, it appeared, existed only on their planet.

"It's a brand new industry, you see," they explained.

"we have just entered the industrial age, thanks to galactic culture. But we are experimenting with new ways to do things, so that we won't be just another race in the galaxy."

"But," said Ferdinand, "Tell me more about this new occupation you have invented for yourselves."

"Well, you see, we started to erect skyscrapers in our cities, just as your people did in their industrial age. But we could see from the way you had done it that all those trucks you used to bring structural materials to the site would clog our city streets."

"So instead, we take the structural materials and pipe them to the construction site."

"You mean things like I-beams, and wall board? You send all of that stuff to the construction site in a huge conduit?"

"Precisely," said the Nifflheimer. "Except that, again to be different, we don't call them I-beams. We lay them on their side, so to speak."

"Ah, then I know exactly what to call the man who works in this new industry," said Ferdinand Feghoot. He drew himself up into his most ceremonial stance and into his most sonorous voice, and pronounced: "Such a man is obviously an H-beam Piper."

Charles Curley lives in Fort Collins, Colorado