Timothy Noah Quotes

Powerful Timothy Noah for Daily Growth

About Timothy Noah

Timothy Noah (born September 18, 1964) is an American journalist, political commentator, and author who has made significant contributions to media and political discourse. He was born in New York City and raised in Scarsdale, New York. His interest in journalism began at a young age when he started writing for his high school newspaper. Noah attended Columbia University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1986. After college, he worked as a fact-checker and assistant editor at The New Republic before joining Newsweek as a correspondent. He later moved to Time magazine, where he served as White House correspondent during Bill Clinton's presidency. In 2005, Noah published his first book, "The Great Divergence: America's Growing Inequality Crisis and Its Impact on Our Politics and Economy." The book was well-received and highlighted the growing income inequality in the United States. He followed this with another critically acclaimed book, "Notes from the Edges of America: Portraits of Life and Death in a Forgotten Nation," which explored the lives of people living on the margins of society. In 2016, Noah joined The New York Times as an opinion writer. His work often focuses on politics, economics, and social issues. He is known for his insightful analysis and thought-provoking commentary. Despite facing backlash at times, he remains a respected voice in American journalism. Throughout his career, Timothy Noah has been influenced by a wide range of authors, including George Orwell, John Steinbeck, and Barbara Ehrenreich. His work reflects his commitment to shedding light on overlooked issues and challenging the status quo. He continues to be a prominent figure in American media and politics today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men."

This quote by Timothy Noah suggests that it's more beneficial for society to invest in nurturing, educating, and strengthening children from a young age rather than dealing with the consequences of neglected or unstable individuals as adults (i.e., repairing 'broken men'). It underscores the importance of proactive investments in child development to promote stability, resilience, and growth in future generations.


"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard."

Timothy Noah's quote suggests a perspective on democracy that emphasizes the power and wisdom inherent in the collective will of the people. In this view, the people have a right to demand and receive what they desire, with a focus on fairness and justice. The term "good and hard" might imply the determination, tenacity, or firmness with which their demands should be addressed, ensuring they are heard and acted upon appropriately within the democratic system. It underscores the importance of giving the majority a voice in shaping their society while reminding us that sometimes, achieving desired outcomes may require persistence and effort.


"The Republican Party's idea of a strong leader is someone who can tell you how to tie your shoes without explaining why laces are better than hooks."

This quote suggests that within the Republican Party, there is a preference for authoritative figures who dictate solutions rather than engage in a dialogue or explanation behind their proposed decisions. The analogy of tying shoes with laces versus hooks implies that the focus is on the execution (tying the shoe) rather than the reasoning or justification behind it (why laces are better than hooks). This attitude reflects an inclination towards obedience and acceptance of decisions without question, as opposed to a more thoughtful approach that considers all perspectives and rationales.


"The truth, like gold, is to be melted over and over in the fire of criticism until it becomes tempers and takes a fine polish."

This quote suggests that the pursuit of truth requires persistent scrutiny and evaluation. The process of finding truth should involve rigorous testing and criticism, much like gold is refined by heat and hammering to remove impurities and achieve its purest form. In the end, the truth will be polished and strengthened, becoming more reliable and valuable after standing up to the test of criticism.


"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

This quote emphasizes that attempting to bring about change often elicits resistance or opposition from those who are comfortable with the status quo. Change challenges established norms and patterns, which some people may perceive as a threat. Therefore, any effort to introduce change can lead to the creation of enemies or adversaries, particularly among those who stand to lose something in the process of progress.


Universities are basically socialist institutions.

- Timothy Noah

Socialist, Universities, Institutions

I've come to the conclusion that the government needs to impose price controls on tuition increases - and so, I think, has President Obama.

- Timothy Noah

Think, Needs, I Think, Impose

The advantage of a market-based national defense is obvious: Every citizen would receive an individualized amount of military protection, based on the value each of us placed on defending the homeland.

- Timothy Noah

Citizen, Receive, Based, National Defense

Bottom line: A market approach to national defense would give us a lousy national defense.

- Timothy Noah

Give, Market, Would, National Defense

Various people have explained why Henry Kissinger is a bad choice to run an investigation into what went wrong on Sept. 11. He's a liar. He's an apologist for corrupt regimes.

- Timothy Noah

Bad, Corrupt, Sept, Kissinger

If Romney were a chair, he'd be a squishy, expensively upholstered easy chair that bore the imprint of whoever last sat on it.

- Timothy Noah

Chair, Last, Romney, Imprint

The intriguing aspect of food charges on airlines is that they create the perfect laboratory for any economist who wishes to study the question of how to price a good that possesses, by universal consensus, absolutely no objective value.

- Timothy Noah

Question, Perfect, Study, Economist

The Sudan bombing is a blot on the Clinton presidency, and a blot it ought to remain.

- Timothy Noah

Presidency, Sudan, Remain, Blot

The House of Representatives eliminated the filibuster way back in the 19th century, and somehow it managed to survive.

- Timothy Noah

Survive, Eliminated, Filibuster

The argument most commonly made in the filibuster's favor is crudely partisan: 'Our side may be in the majority now, but someday it will be in the minority, and when that happens we'll want to block the other side's extremist agenda.'

- Timothy Noah

Argument, Other, Side, Filibuster

Why does Medicare have such difficulty accommodating a cut - no, wait, a trim to its annual spending increase - of two measly percentage points? Two words: baby boom.

- Timothy Noah

Wait, Cut, Boom, Percentage

Some liberals think that describing any role that education gaps play in creating income inequality is some sort of sellout - that, in essence, you're telling the middle class, 'Tough luck; you should have stayed in college.'

- Timothy Noah

College, Play, Income, Describing

When a conservative praises a liberal as 'morally serious,' he means that person is less liberal than most.

- Timothy Noah

Conservative, Most, Means, Morally

The Pentagon got fed up with its recruits getting ripped off by payday lenders and in 2007 got Congress to make it illegal to extend such loans to members of the military. But civilians remain fair game.

- Timothy Noah

Game, Congress, Fed, Extend

Within the narrow confines of Permanent Washington - the journalists, lobbyists, and congressional lifers who are the city's avatars of centrism and continuity - Ford is considered the beau ideal of American leadership.

- Timothy Noah

Within, Ideal, Congressional, Continuity

The problem with wanting the tax code to be 'simpler, fairer,' and 'pro-growth' is that it's impossible to achieve all three at the same time.

- Timothy Noah

Achieve, Wanting, Code, Simpler

An orthodox belief in big government's inefficiency cannot coexist with an orthodox belief in private industry's inability to compete with big government.

- Timothy Noah

Big, Compete, Inability, Coexist

The central con of the political coalition assembled by Ronald Reagan and maintained by his successors was that government was a common enemy.

- Timothy Noah

Political, Con, Reagan, Common Enemy

The liberation of Iraq, which is already hard to justify from the perspective of American interests, at least had the virtue of freeing Iraqis from a brutal dictator. Despite all the anarchy and violence, life has gotten better for most Iraqis.

- Timothy Noah

American, Gotten, Least, Liberation

If the Pentagon truly confined itself to providing defense, then presumably we wouldn't need a whole separate government agency to provide 'Homeland Security.'

- Timothy Noah

Providing, Confined, Presumably

GOP candidates routinely sign a pledge never, ever to raise taxes. Democratic candidates aren't even asked to sign a parallel pledge never, ever to cut entitlements.

- Timothy Noah

Sign, Cut, GOP, Parallel

Washington culture has always had a difficult time acknowledging untruth.

- Timothy Noah

Culture, Always, Difficult Time

I'd never have guessed that, six years after Medicare introduced a drug benefit, it would still be forbidden to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies. Health reform might fix that, but it probably won't.

- Timothy Noah

Pharmaceutical, Years, Health Reform

In Washington, the accepted method for passing along information about how the government fails to meet real-world needs is to leak it.

- Timothy Noah

Needs, About, Method, Real-World

The pathological degree to which former Vice President Dick Cheney operated in secrecy led to government abuses that we'll probably spend years learning about.

- Timothy Noah

Vice, Which, Dick Cheney, Pathological

Politicians have such large egos that it usually takes them an inordinately long time to grasp when they've become a pathetic joke.

- Timothy Noah

Them, Large, Egos, Inordinately

What is the engine that drives economic growth in an ideopolis? The university.

- Timothy Noah

Growth, University, Drives, Engine

To cut the federal budget without cutting entitlements is like giving up chocolate-chip cookies and then deciding it's OK to eat the ones that don't have any nuts.

- Timothy Noah

Giving Up, Like, Cut, Budget

To pine for the days before public education became a practical reality is to pine for an America held back by mass ignorance and mass illiteracy.

- Timothy Noah

Education, Practical, Became, Illiteracy

Wal-Mart uses technology to increase sales volume, but the more it does so, the more it drives down profit margins - its own and everybody else's. The same logic does not appear to hold for Goldman Sachs.

- Timothy Noah

Everybody, Wal-Mart, Margins, Profit

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