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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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] read more
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
...the case for individual freedom rests largely on the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us read more
...the case for individual freedom rests largely on the recognition of the inevitable and universal ignorance of all of us concerning a great many of the factors on which the achievements of our ends and welfare depend.
I can see clearly now ... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing read more
I can see clearly now ... that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing with Watergate...
The ingrained idea that, because there is no king and they despise titles, the Americans are a free people is read more
The ingrained idea that, because there is no king and they despise titles, the Americans are a free people is pathetically untrue. There is a perpetual interference with personal liberty over there that would not be tolerated in England for a week.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies.
The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form read more
The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.
What you cannot enforce, do not command.
What you cannot enforce, do not command.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that read more
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.
Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.
