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I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."N. B.: This read more
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."N. B.: This quote is commonly attributed to Voltaire, but it is not found in his writing. - The Friends of Voltaire.
Except in the sacred texts of democracy and in the incantations of orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend read more
Except in the sacred texts of democracy and in the incantations of orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force. What other virtue can there be in fifty-one percent except the brute fact that fifty-one is more than forty-nine? The rule of fifty-one per cent is a convenience, it is for certain matters a satisfactory political device, it is for others the lesser of two evils, and for others it is acceptable because we do not know any less troublesome method of obtaining a political decision. But it may easily become an absurd tyranny if we regard it worshipfully, as though it were more than a political device. We have lost all sense of its true meaning when we imagine that the opinion of fifty-one per cent is in some high fashion the true opinion of the whole hundred per cent, or indulge in the sophistry that the rule of a majority is based upon the ultimate equality of man.
The State, both in its genesis and by its primary intention, is purely anti-social. It is not based on the read more
The State, both in its genesis and by its primary intention, is purely anti-social. It is not based on the idea of natural rights, but on the idea that the individual has no rights except those that the State may provisionally grant him. It has always made justice costly and difficult of access, and has invariably held itself above justice and common morality whenever it could advantage itself by so doing.
From the Far East I send you one single thought, one sole idea--written in red on every beachhead form Australia read more
From the Far East I send you one single thought, one sole idea--written in red on every beachhead form Australia to Tokyo--There is no substitute for victory!
America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over read more
America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
The right of bearing arms for a lawful purpose is not a right granted by the Constitution; neither is it read more
The right of bearing arms for a lawful purpose is not a right granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence.
In America, it is indispensable that every well wisher of true liberty should understand that acts of tyranny can only read more
In America, it is indispensable that every well wisher of true liberty should understand that acts of tyranny can only proceed from the publick. The publick, then, is to be watched, in this country, as, in other countries kings and aristocrats are to be watched.
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.