It is easy to take liberty for granted when you have never had it taken from you.

It is easy to take liberty for granted when you have never had it taken from you.

From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be read more

From the fact that people are very different it follows that, if we treat them equally, the result must be inequality in their actual position, and that the only way to place them in an equal position would be to treat them differently. Equality before the law and material equality are therefore not only different but are in conflict which each other; and we can achieve either one or the other, but not both at the same time.

All lasting change is incremented, based on unfolding traditions and developing institutions. Revolutionary upheavals may change how the world looks read more

All lasting change is incremented, based on unfolding traditions and developing institutions. Revolutionary upheavals may change how the world looks but seldom changes the way the world works. Lasting historical change comes not through tidal waves but through the irresistible creeping tide.

What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.

What a delightful thing is the conversation of specialists! One understands absolutely nothing and it's charming.

It is the invariable habit of bureaucracies, at all times and everywhere, to assume...that every citizen is a criminal. Their read more

It is the invariable habit of bureaucracies, at all times and everywhere, to assume...that every citizen is a criminal. Their one apparent purpose, pursued with a relentless and furious diligence, is to convert the assumption into a fact. They hunt endlessly for proofs, and, when proofs are lacking, for mere suspicions. The moment they become aware of a definite citizen, John Doe, seeking what is his right under the law, they begin searching feverishly for an excuse for withholding it from him.

The glory of a nation and an age is always the work of a few great persons, and it disappears read more

The glory of a nation and an age is always the work of a few great persons, and it disappears with them.

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the read more

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay.

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs read more

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.

Fortunately for themselves and for the world, nearly all men are cowards and dare not act on what they believe. read more

Fortunately for themselves and for the world, nearly all men are cowards and dare not act on what they believe. Nearly all our disasters come of a few fools having the "courage of their convictions.".