It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most read more

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most vitally from democracy. In a despotism there is no organized opposition which can take over the power when the Administration in office has failed. All the eggs are in one basket. Everything is staked on one coterie of men. When the going is good, they move more quickly and efficiently than democracies, where the opposition has to be persuaded and conciliated. But when they lose, there are no reserves. There are no substitutes on the bench ready to go out on the field and carry the ball. That is why democracies with the habit of party government have outlived all other forms of government in the modern world. They have, as it were, at least two governments always at hand, and when one fails they have the other. They have diversified the risks of mortality, corruption, and stupidity which pervade all human affairs. They have remembered that the most beautifully impressive machine cannot run for very long unless there is available a complete supply of spare parts.

In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they read more

In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came for me -- and by that time there was nobody left to speak up.

In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its read more

In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

Justice delayed is justice denied.

There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the read more

There's only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.

...tradition and custom becomes intertwined and are a strong coercion which directs the society upon fixed lines, and strangles liberty.

...tradition and custom becomes intertwined and are a strong coercion which directs the society upon fixed lines, and strangles liberty.

Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and read more

Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.

One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be read more

One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation.

This current administration cannot even bring home a soldier from Iraq and they talk about putting a man on the read more

This current administration cannot even bring home a soldier from Iraq and they talk about putting a man on the moon.. didn't the Democrats whose candidates were elected in the last
3 presidential elections do that?