To include freedom in the very definition of democracy is to define a process not by its actual characteristics as a process but by its hoped for results. This is not only intellectually invalid, it is, in practical terms, blinding oneself in advance to some of the unwanted consequences of the process.
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I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.
I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death.
Government and state can never be perfect because they owe their raison d'etre to the imperfection of man and can read more
Government and state can never be perfect because they owe their raison d'etre to the imperfection of man and can attain their end, the elimination of man's innate impulse to violence, only by recourse to violence, the very thing they are called upon to prevent.
There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute read more
There is perhaps no better way of measuring the natural endowment of a soul than by its ability to transmute dissatisfaction into a creative impulse. The genuine artist is as much a dissatisfied person as the revolutionary, yet how diametrically opposed are the products each distills from his dissatisfaction.
Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.
Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.
It is all very well to talk about being the captain of your soul. It is hard, and only a read more
It is all very well to talk about being the captain of your soul. It is hard, and only a few heroes, saints, and geniuses have been the captains of their souls for any extended period of their lives. Most men, after a little freedom, have preferred authority with the consoling assurances and the economy of effort which it brings.
What is hateful to thyself do not do to another. That is the whole Law, the rest is Commentary.
What is hateful to thyself do not do to another. That is the whole Law, the rest is Commentary.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violen trevolution inevitable.
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violen trevolution inevitable.
Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed read more
Necessity is the plea of every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few.
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few.
