From Jason Collins:

There are some massive externalities to the behaviour of other people.

Chrystia Freeland, quoting a Taiwanese-born American executive on the effect of globalization on American workers:

“So if you’re going to demand 10 times the paycheck, you need to deliver 10 times the value. It sounds harsh, but maybe people in the middle class need to decide to take a pay cut.”

Yuval Levin:

It must be a vision that …redefines the safety net as a means of making the poor more independent rather than making the middle class less so

Steven Hayward:

neither ideological camp will ever defeat the other so decisively as to be able to govern without the consent of the other side.

Pointers for all but the first from David Brooks.