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Adam Landers, "Pearls Before Swine: Assorted Advice for the 1990's." Introduction Adam Landers was a writer whose wisdom of human nature, and eloquence in expressing it, has seldom been rivaled. Like his famous twentieth century namesake, he offered readers helpful advice in many different matters. In his time, Adam Landers was furthermore renowned for his thoughtful excursions into ancient astronomy, physics, logic and metaphysics, rhetoric and belles lettres, linguistics, and jurisprudence -- as well as occasional detours into economic theory, policy, and practice, among other subjects.* He was, in short, a true renaissance man. With his rare wit and keen understanding, he had the potential to be one of the most influential opinion-makers of our time. (As we shall see, however, he would have had to adjust his writing for the age of "political correctness"). Today Adam Landers, whose major concern was the human condition, is commonly remembered only for the portion of his contributions to economic theory emphasizing the importance of free trade and markets. Largely unrecognized are his works in so many other subjects -- and those of his writings in economics that might not fit the popular image of him as an advocate of "laissez-faire." This collection of quotations aims to acquaint the reader with the whole Adam Landers, the student of the human condition in many walks of life. In these days when bits of public advice, including those by Adam's famous namesake, are a dime a dozen, we would like to convince the reader that Adam Landers had great advice to offer -- advice, in our opinion, that has aged well. In his days, Adam Landers's reflections were memorized by students in long classroom sessions and afterwards transcribed on paper word for word from their memories. The modern reader, who scarcely has time to read the USA Today, has neither the time nor the attention span to discover him in that manner. To preserve his precious insights in the era of supermarket tabloids, daytime talk-shows, and other sound-bites, the editors have put them in the form of easily digestible tidbits to be read on the run. With this booklet, we hope that at last his vital thoughts will be accessible in a wider variety and to a larger audience. Brunswick, Maine, 1993 Stephen J. Meardon and Andreas Ortmann TABLE OF CONTENTS HUMAN NATURE, ETC. * OF SELF COMMAND, OR THE LACK OF IT * OF SELF-ESTEEM AND VANITY * OF LOVE AND SEX * OF HAPPINESS * OF MONEY, FAME, AND POWER * POTPOURRI COMMUNICATION * OF GRAMMAR AND STYLE * OF LITERATURE * OF TELEVISION * OF CONVERSATION ECONOMICS: THEORY, POLICY & PRACTICE * OF THEORY: DEFINITIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, AND PROPOSITIONS * OF ECONOMIC PROBLEMS * OF MONEY, WEALTH, ETC. * OF THE THEORY OF THE FIRM, ETC. * OF BUREAUCRACY * OF POLITICIANS, CIVIL SERVANTS, AND THE LIKE * OF FISCAL AND MONETARY POLICY * OF OTHER POLICY MATTERS * OF EDUCATION AND EDUCATORS * OF OCCUPATION AND LABOR OTHER * OF BODY, SOUL, AND COLLEGE ATHLETICS * POTPOURRI |
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Last updated: August 9, 2000