"The avoidance of taxes
is the only intellectual pursuit
that carries any reward."
by:
John Maynard Keynes
(1883-1946) British economist
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An interesting instruction which warrants the establishment of "Tax Evasion 101" in all of our secondary and tertiary institutions of learning.
 -- john-dougls, nassau     
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    My first thought on reading this: the poor man! What terrible intellectual and emotional poverty to find nothing more rewarding in life than avoiding taxes. Not for him the wonderful wealth of God's creation, only money, money, money... I wonder how such a person feels at the moment when he has to say goodbye to his riches forever. Does he realize he has never experienced the fullness of life? Probably not because he has no idea there is a wonderful world beside the making and hoarding of money.
     -- Maggie, Hamburg     
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    Without taxes you have no protection, no infrastructure to provide clean water, roads, public education, etc., etc. What an ignorant quotation.
     -- Dick, Fort Worth     
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    Interesting, when you consider who this man is...and I am certain he was not speaking of religion, spiritual rewards, etc. Oliver W. Holmes also noted that taxes are a forcible extraction and that a person is not requird to pay one cent more than is absolutely required by law...hence, ti is entirely appropriate to take every exenption and tax reduction measure that can Congress has made a part of the law. The power to tax is the power to destroy. Its not a contribution...its a forcible extraction...necessary, but it is still what it is.
     -- Michael, Houston     
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    Without taxes there would be no helpless people hopelessly dependent on government whose only aim is to control their behavior. Without taxes you would protect yourself and band together with your neighbors voluntarily to protect each other. You would build roads, you would dig wells for water, and you would teach your own children or hire someone else to do it for you. Without taxes you would no longer be under the thumb of an increasingly oppressive system of government.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    ... without taxes we would become a feudal society again... oh, wait a minute, that is just what King George W wants... oh, then we must do it...
     -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US     
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    Sometimes I think a feudal society would be preferable to what we have now. At least you would have only one lord to please, not millions of the poor societal leeches clamped onto the productive.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    Without taxes...you would have to protect yourself (I carry a handgun), and pay to use infrastructure as they are used (i.e. dig a well for water or pay to hook into a city system). There are plenty of homes on unpaved roads, though they pay taxes for roads. I paid for my college education myself...no loans. Government does not owe you an education, and when they pay for it you get less education. The socialists among you seem to think the government should give you everything, so why don't you send the extra money you spend on food or clothes and send it to the IRS to help the welfare buy a new car?
     -- Joe, Rochester, MI     
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    right on target keynes! here understand "reward" as financial and remember that keynes went through the most troubled economic times in kings college. academics didn't pay much, he lost almost all in the crash but recovered later. For the blablabla religious minded type, you cannot understand a guy like keynes. that's why you are religious: to have someone to tell you what to believe and think. so Maggie from Hamburg, just understand that some people are born geniuses ("God creates them that way", in case that is easier for you to accept). So pity only yourself with your "masses-type" intellect.
     -- julia, manhattan     
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    Taxes may not be fun, but they're necessary to keep society running, and to improve it as well. To avoid paying taxes when you are perfectly capable to do so, I think, is selfish and unpatriotic, and certainly not intellectual.
     -- Anonymous     
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    In context, the quote has some merit. In a broad (out of context) rating, it would be a definite thumbs down. For those that regard all taxes to be equal — you are the problem. The enslavement of the second plank of the communist manifesto is not the same as non-personal duties, imposts and excises.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    Yes, but what kind of taxes?  Taxes were supposed to come from commercial activities, not private labors. 

    Remember that the government can do nothing a citizen can't do to his neighbor — our government is a representative one, and all powers enumerated are powers the people individually already have.  The proper jurisdictions of law protect the common man in the common law, regulate businesses in commercial law, and establish military rules in admiralty-maritime law. 

    Using commercial paper (i.e. legal tender) in lieu of cash (hard currency) comes with rules for its use — paying interest on these promissory notes is one of the conditions, and all users are subject to those conditions.  The corruption is that using lawful currency has been made illegal in this system — merchants cannot accept gold or silver money for purchases because the fiat money system operates in a box — like the board game, Monopoly money has no real value outside of the box, and you can't use 'real' money to buy properties in the game. 

    The truth is that taxes don't pay for services, they pay the interest on the unpayable debt that has been converted into the money supply.  The debt can never be repaid — it is the money supply!

    There was a time when the USA was the most prosperous nation on Earth, with zero debt, and no income taxes.  Ever wonder how we got there without income and property taxes?
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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