Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more

Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.

I do not believe that the men who served in uniform in Vietnam have been given the credit they deserve. read more

I do not believe that the men who served in uniform in Vietnam have been given the credit they deserve. It was a difficult war against an unorthodox enemy.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

He loved politicians - even Republicans.

He loved politicians - even Republicans.

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.

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

The state is the great fiction by which everybody tries to live at the expense of everybody else.

The state is the great fiction by which everybody tries to live at the expense of everybody else.

The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of read more

The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.

Justice, like liberty and coercion, is a concept which, for the sake of clarity, ought to be confined to the read more

Justice, like liberty and coercion, is a concept which, for the sake of clarity, ought to be confined to the deliberate treatment of men by other men.