It was the labor movement that helped secure so much of what we take for granted today. The 40-hour work week, the minimum wage, family leave, health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, retirement plans. The cornerstones of the middle-class security all bear the union label.

Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.