"Do you not know with how little wisdom the world is governed?"

Watching Washington grapple with the fiscal cliff, I am reminded of the famous quote by Oxenstierna--

Axel Oxenstierna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: ""Do you not know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed?" (in a letter to his son Johan written in 1648, in the original Latin An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur?).[16] Although attributed to Cardinal Richelieu as well, this is probably the most famous Swedish quotation in the English-speaking world. The words were intended to encourage his son, a delegate to the negotiations that would lead to the Peace of Westphalia, who worried about his ability to hold his own amidst experienced and eminent statesmen and diplomats."

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