Ben Stein Quotes & Sayings

The banks are not lending, at least from what I see. They were so wild and reckless back in the good times that they got burned terribly. — Ben Stein

People getting rich in a free society in general - with some scammy exceptions, which are rare - makes everyone else richer, too. — Ben Stein

Sleep more at night. If it's allowed at work or home, take a nap in the afternoon. You'll be amazed at how much better you'll feel. — Ben Stein

It's amazing what ordinary people can do if they set out without preconceived notions. — Ben Stein

I do all of the grocery shopping in my little family. I buy cheese, of many different kinds, sliced packaged meats and poultry, bagels, immense quantities of eggs, pre-made fried chicken. Milk. Bacon. It is insane how much dairy, deli and bakery stuff I buy. — Ben Stein

The first step in getting what you want from life-decide what you want. — Ben Stein

I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it sis my duty ... This is my highest and best use as a human. — Ben Stein

Greed is a basic part of animal nature. Being against it is like being against breathing or eating. It means nothing. — Ben Stein

Neo-Darwinists ask us to believe in things not seen. We're not supposed to have an established religion in America, but we do, and it's called Darwinism . — Ben Stein

I don't believe the most successful people are the ones who got the best grades, got into the best schools, or made the most money. — Ben Stein

The successful people of this world take life as it comes. They just go out and deal with the world as it is. — Ben Stein

When are American Jews going to realize that the Republican Party is far better for Israel than the Democrats? — Ben Stein

I think Darwinism as a theory explaining evolution within species is incredibly brilliant - just unbelievably, incredibly brilliant. — Ben Stein

I cannot tell you ... how to be rich. But I can tell you how to feel rich, which is far better, let me tell you firsthand, than being rich. Be grateful ... It is the only totally reliable get rich quick scheme. — Ben Stein

Could Congress really do its work if it held its sessions by teleconferencing? Could the Supreme Court? Nothing can replace the spark of intelligence that travels from person to person at meetings. — Ben Stein

Jump into the middle of things, get your hands dirty, fall flat on your face, and then reach for the stars. — Ben Stein

When I seemed to be irritable or sad, my father would quote the learned Dr. Knight, and then say, 'Just go to sleep.' Like all smart aleck kids, I thought the advice was silly. But as I've grown older, I've realized just how smart Knight was. — Ben Stein

If we try to engineer outcomes, if we overturn tradition to make everyone the same, we ruin society. If we upset tradition to allow for an equal shot at the starting gate, everyone wins, except for the charlatans and would be dictators. — Ben Stein

We are mortgaging ourselves to foreigners on a scale that would make George Washington cry. Every day - every single day - we borrow a billion dollars from foreigners to buy petroleum from abroad, often from countries that hate us. We are the beggars of the world, financing our lavish lifestyle by selling our family heirlooms and by enslaving our progeny with the need to service the debt. — Ben Stein

I have a great pic of my father and Rev. Graham laughing hysterically at some joke with George Pratt Shultz looking on back in 1972 or so. — Ben Stein

I feel as if I'm in on a pass and am damn lucky to have whatever I have. It could all be taken away in a second. — Ben Stein

Prime-time network television has become an island without religion in an ever-more-religious America. — Ben Stein

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. — Ben Stein

There is no sudden leap into the stratosphere ... There is only advancing step by step, slowly and tortuously, up the pyramid toward your goals ... — Ben Stein

If there's a recession, I'd buy stocks. That's when you make money: when markets are spooked. — Ben Stein

Humans are alive, therefore life must be complex. — Ben Stein

I am about to vote. I am about to do something that human beings are rarely allowed to do. I am doing something that did not exist until America. — Ben Stein

But when I talk to people who are Darwinists or evolutionists and say, 'Well, how did life begin'
they're ... they don't have an answer. I mean, they have an answer, but it's a BS answer. It's an answer that wouldn't make sense to a small child. — Ben Stein

I am back in LA now. And I keep thinking back to my time in New York after the bombings ... I was crying so much I could not see, and the other diners joined in, and I thought, What do you do with such atheistic evil? — Ben Stein

I spend so much time in fear of going broke, and I never have been even remotely close to going broke. — Ben Stein

Darwinism doesn't explain where gravity comes from. It doesn't explain where thermodynamics comes from. It doesn't explain where the laws of physics come from. It doesn't explain where matter came from. — Ben Stein

Yes, Americans can still get credit for cars and trucks and refrigerators, and those businesses are doing well. But just try to get a home loan now. — Ben Stein

We are not supposed to be all equal. Let's just forget that. We are supposed to have equal rights under law. If we do that, we have done enough. — Ben Stein

A corporation's responsibility is to the shareholders, not its retirees and employees. Companies are doing everything they can to get rid of pension plans and they will succeed. — Ben Stein

I am so used to having a comfortable life. What will it be like when I am no longer able to just buy anything I want? — Ben Stein

I tell you why I don't think I will ever vote for a Democrat, if I may say so. Because for me, the number one issue is right to life, and I don't think the Democrats are very good on the right-to-life issue. — Ben Stein

What's a good investment? Go home from work early and spend the afternoon throwing a ball around with your son. — Ben Stein

Wow, bad news. Mr. Obama now hates Israel because the Israelis want to build 1,600 apartments in their own capital city, Jerusalem. Russia hates Israel, too. So do the Europeans. So does Ban Ki-moon, a Korean who is secretary-general of the UN. — Ben Stein

The scientific community says that if you even mention God as causes of anything scientific, you're gone. — Ben Stein

What the White House is trying to do is racialize all politics and they're especially trying to tell the African-American voter that the GOP is against letting them have a chance at a good life in this economy, and that's just a complete lie, — Ben Stein

My pals, such as they are, in Hollywood, ask me why I love to travel to D.C. so much, why it's a vacation destination for me. I say, 'Because I sometimes have perfect days there.' — Ben Stein

After all the black man has been through in this world, he can still often reach levels of spirituality the most pampered white man cannot touch. Maybe what he's been through is the reason why. — Ben Stein

So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin. — Ben Stein

As to a media personality, well that just happened in large measure because people found me amusing, and I did lots and lots of T.V. news interview shows. — Ben Stein

Nothing happens by itself ... it all will come your way, once you understand that you have to make it come your way, by your own exertions. — Ben Stein

I don't like the sound of all the lists he's making. — Ben Stein

It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated ... it is finished when it surrenders. — Ben Stein

Hollywood is largely about scammers and con men. It was my main livelihood for about 25 years, and the scams were beautiful and ugly, cheap and expensive, but, wow, were there a lot of scammers. — Ben Stein

I am scared of getting old. I am scared of being ill. — Ben Stein

Darwinism is still very much alive, utterly dominating biology. Despite the fact that no one has ever been able to prove the creation of a single distinct species by Darwinist means, Darwinism dominates the academy and the media. — Ben Stein

Put simply, the rich pay a lot of taxes as a total percentage of taxes collected, but they don't pay a lot of taxes as a percentage of what they can afford to pay, or as a percentage of what the government needs to close the deficit gap. — Ben Stein

Screaming at children over their grades, especially to the point of the child's tears, is child abuse, pure and simple. It's not funny and it's not good parenting. It is a crushing, scarring, disastrous experience for the child. It isn't the least bit funny. — Ben Stein

Every morning, I get up, get out of bed, and get on my knees and thank God for waking up in America ... (She is) the light of the world ... A nation of heroes ... The real stars are wearing body armor on top of their battle dress uniforms in 130 degree heat and they do not have stunt doubles to come in for them when the going gets rough and the bullets and the shrapnel start flying. They are the real stars, fighting terrorism and trying to free a nation. — Ben Stein

I don't consider an actor a star if he's paid $20 million and grimaces in front of the camera and has a stunt man stand in for him. They may be fine actors, but they're not role models. The real stars are wearing body armor in 130-degree heat ... They're getting shot at and they don't have any stunt doubles standing in for them. — Ben Stein

If there is no God, then man sometimes thinks he is god, and sometimes tries to live like a god. — Ben Stein

I hope it won't come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys. — Ben Stein

Yes, [I spent] two long years, traveling all over the United States, all over Europe, interviewing many, many, many people who had been thrown out of their academic jobs because they taught that there was a possibility of life coming from something other than Darwinism, who thought that possibly random selection and mutations didn't account for the universe, didn't account for gravity, didn't account for why nobody had ever seen an individual species evolve
no one's ever seen an individual species evolve! — Ben Stein

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. — Ben Stein

I have to tell you I never in my life anticipated getting this old, this fast. It seems as if I were 25 just a few days ago. — Ben Stein

Science leads you to killing people. — Ben Stein

No one will do it for you. — Ben Stein

As Beverly Hills becomes more Iranian-Jewish, it is becoming politically conservative. — Ben Stein

Life lived to help others is the only life that matters. — Ben Stein

The America that we knew as the smartest place on the planet is gone with the wind. — Ben Stein

Usually I am not a conspiracy theorist. I don't believe in the Bilderbergers as a conspiracy or the Trilateralists. But I am certain that the Communists killed JFK. There is a super great book called 'Legend' by Edward Jay Epstein that makes it all perfectly clear. — Ben Stein

We're a lazy, undisciplined generation. I don't exempt myself: I spend way too much, even though I make a good income. — Ben Stein

The human spirit needs to accomplish, to achieve, to triumph to be happy. — Ben Stein

I'm out and about meeting people all day long. And I'm very friendly; I talk to just about everybody I meet. — Ben Stein

So, who in the media is without sin among us? I am in the media and I am a major league sinner. I don't know anyone except my wife who isn't a big time sinner. — Ben Stein

I agree that there are some bad apples on Wall Street. I spent about ten years exposing corporate and financial fraud for 'Barron's' magazine and I found a lot to write about. — Ben Stein

Happiness is being grateful for what you have and having an attitude of gratitude instead of an attitude of envy. — Ben Stein

It is so great to sleep in safe, glorious, beautiful America. I just cannot get over it. — Ben Stein

Israel is our strongest, most reliable ally in the Middle East. Of course, we're their most reliable ally, too. — Ben Stein

Every soul deserves a shot at a Cadillac, but not everyone should be guaranteed a Cadillac. — Ben Stein

People ask how I can be a conservative and still want higher taxes. It makes my head spin, and I guess it shows how old I am. But I thought that conservatives were supposed to like balanced budgets. I thought it was the conservative position to not leave heavy indebtedness to our grandchildren. — Ben Stein

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured ... But not everyone must prove they are a citizen. — Ben Stein

For any exam in history, here is the answer: all human history is the struggle between systems that attempt to shackle the human personality in the name of some intangible good on the one hand and systems that enable and expand the scope of human personality in the pursuit of extremely tangible aims. The American system is the most successful in the world because it harmonizes best with the aims and longings of human personality while allowing the best protection to other personalities. — Ben Stein

The sad fact is that spending rises every year, no matter what people want or say they want. — Ben Stein

If there are finer beings than German short hairs, I don't know what they are. In their eyes is peace. — Ben Stein

I have always been very concerned that Darwinism gave the basic okay to terrible racism and to the idea of murder based upon race. — Ben Stein

Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows. — Ben Stein

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. — Ben Stein

I thought that all of the sacrifices and blessings of the whole history of mankind have devolved upon me. Thank you, God. — Ben Stein

[I did] Some [reading to prep for Expelled]. I read one book cover to cover, From Darwin to Hitler , and that was a very interesting book
one of these rare books I wish had been even longer. It's about how Darwin 's theory
supposedly concocted by this mild-mannered saintly man, with a flowing white beard like Santa Claus
led to the murder of millions of innocent people. — Ben Stein

I have talent at playing myself. I don't have a very broad range, but at playing myself I am a wizard. It's more than fun; it's the best job on Earth. — Ben Stein

I mean it used to be, there was a time ... when lynchings of African Americans were not that incredibly rare. Now the lynchings are the police and it's just an outrage. — Ben Stein

If there is no God, why bother to tell the truth? Why not steal? — Ben Stein

Running a real business is exacting, daunting, repetitive work. Even in Silicon Valley. — Ben Stein

Sleep makes people calmer, more alert, less fearful - just plain happier, or so I see around me and in me. I am sure that if this great nation were to concentrate on getting more sleep, we would be a happier, more confident people, and that by itself would be a major achievement. — Ben Stein

Science should always be in the business of attempting to disprove itself. — Ben Stein

I'm an economist by training. I don't really work as an economist. I only worked briefly as an economist. — Ben Stein

I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution, and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. — Ben Stein

And now, any of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are forced to buy insurance because they are citizens. — Ben Stein

I love sleeping in a moving car more than sleeping in bed. — Ben Stein

I think it's criminal how little people in the military are paid. These are people out risking their lives, taken away from their families for long periods of time. I think they should be paid dramatically more than they're paid. — Ben Stein

My parents, products of the Great Depression, were successful people, but lived in a state of constant fear that my sister and I, and they, would sink into the kind of economic insecurity that their generation knew so well. — Ben Stein

Evolutionism, as taught by Darwinism, has nothing - nothing - to say about how life originated. Has nothing to say about how the governing principles in the universe - gravity, thermodynamics, motion, fluid motion - how any of those originated. It's ... it's got some gigantic missing pieces. — Ben Stein

Israel being condemned by the EU, which 66 years ago watched with glee as its Jews were being mass murdered. That is pretty rich. — Ben Stein

And there hasn't been much progress in Darwinism since [the life of Darwin]. — Ben Stein

I was a trial lawyer. At the same time, I was a teacher. I taught about the political and social content of film for American University. Then I left and became a teacher at the University of California at Santa Cruz. I taught about the political and social content of film, but I also taught a course in law for undergraduates. — Ben Stein