Much of the social history of the Western world, over the past three decades, has been a history of replacing what has worked with what sounded good. In area after area- crime, education, housing, race relations- the situation has gotten worse after the bright new theories were put into operation. The amazing thing is that this history of failure and disaster has neither discouraged the social engineers nor discredited them.
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A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
Laywers, I suppose, were children once.
Laywers, I suppose, were children once.
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.
The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should read more
The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.
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.
We are the people our parents warned us about.
We are the people our parents warned us about.
To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.
To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.
It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct it read more
It is possible to lead astray an entire generation, to strike it blind, to drive it insane, to direct it towards a false goal. Napoleon proved this.
We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.
We would like to live as we once lived, but history will not permit it.
