Barbara Tuchman on folly in government

Personal self-interest belongs to every time and becomes folly when it dominates government.

~ Barbara W. Tuchman, The March of Folly, Page 126.

(Barbara Tuchman was a distinguished American historian of the 20th Century. The March of Folly's theme is the pursuit of policy contrary to self-interest using examples from the Battle of Troy, the Renaissance popes, the British loss of North America and ultimately America betraying herself in Vietnam.)