Michael Pollan Quotes

We don't need a law against McDonald's or a law against slaughterhouse abuse - we ask for too much salvation by legislation. All we need to do is empower individuals with the right philosophy and the right information to opt out en masse.

The ultimate solution is not in the hands of the government. The solution falls on each and every individual, with guidance from family, friends and community. The #1 responsibility for each of us is to change ourselves with hope that others will follow. This is of greater importance than working on changing the government; that is secondary to promoting a virtuous society. If we can achieve this, then the government will change.

Real change in society must start from individual initiative.

My philosophy is: It's none of my business what people say of me and think of me.

Change happens from the bottom up - all of us as individuals deciding that we will and we do have an impact.

The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. The fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.

The thing for me about Ayn Rand is that her philosophy is the only one applicable to the world today - in every sense. If you take her ideas, then take them farther in your own mind, you can find answers to pretty well everything on an individual basis.

It is not one government or another that can solve all of the problems. It's you.

Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one.

People are seeking more power in the individual and less in government and institutions; they want more cooperation and less competition.

No matter how many shows or how much work we do, we are not going to make a difference. It's only the masses that will make a difference.

The status quo is presented as something to aspire to, whereas for us, the status quo was something we wanted to shatter in order to create the space for people to choose for themselves.

Too often, we rely on other people - whether it be politicians or institutions - to effect change.

Any collective action is made up of individuals who one day decided not to sit and watch anymore.

No, I'll take responsibility for my own life, I am going to make a decision. And you know, to this day, I would raise flags on all public buildings to celebrate the chance I had to make that decision.

We feel the need to emphasize with greater clarity the obligation for members of the Church to become more independent and self reliant.

The corporate-powered parties are not gonna do it for us, not the greater or the lesser evil. We have to do it for ourselves. And the minute we stand up and stand together, we are unstoppable.

It is therefore senseless to think of complaining since nothing foreign has decided what we feel, what we live, or what we are.

A movement happens when people are inspired by somebody, but they do it themselves. You don't wait for someone else. You do it yourself.

It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance must work a revolution in all the offices and relations of men; in their religion; in their education; in their pursuits; their modes of living; their association; in their property; in their speculative views.

For change to happen in any community, the initiative must come from the individual.

I admire the good samaritan, but I don't want to be one.I don't want to spend my life picking up people by the side of the road after they have been beaten up and robbed.I want to change the Jericho road, so that everybody has an opportunity for a job, education, security, health.

I don't think I have something that's pronounceable as a philosophy. ... When it was fashionable to say, "May the Force be with you," I always said, "Force yourself." ... I'll say again then, "The Force is within you. Force yourself."

By themselves, they are not enough; we also need to engage in political action.

every individual can make a difference ... if we continue to leave decision making to the so-called decision makers, things will never change.