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A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.
A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions read more
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.
He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.
He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers.
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.
A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it read more
A country grows in history not only because of the heroism of its troops on the field of battle, it grows also when it turns to justice and to right for the conservation of its interests.
If the French were really intelligent, they'd speak English.
If the French were really intelligent, they'd speak English.
Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
Blood alone moves the wheels of history.
The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.
The whole art of politics consists in directing rationally the irrationalities of men.
Politics makes strange bed-fellows.
Politics makes strange bed-fellows.
