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The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. read more
The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. The ideal of democracy rests on the belief that the view which will direct government emerges from an independent and spontaneous process. It requires, therefore, the existence of a large sphere independent of majority control in which the opinions of the individuals are formed.
Glory is the child of peril.
Glory is the child of peril.
A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a read more
A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.
No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our read more
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?
The profoundest truth of war is that the issue of battle is usually decided in the minds of the opposing read more
The profoundest truth of war is that the issue of battle is usually decided in the minds of the opposing commanders, not in the bodies of their men.
Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Power tires only those who do not have it.
Power tires only those who do not have it.
Every device employed to bolster individual freedom must have as its chief purpose the impairment of the absoluteness of power. read more
Every device employed to bolster individual freedom must have as its chief purpose the impairment of the absoluteness of power. The indications are that such an impairment is brought about not by strengthening the individual and pitting him against the possessors of power, but by distributing and diversifying power and pitting one category or unit of power against the other. Where power is one, the defeated individual, however strong and resourceful, can have no refuge and no recourse.
