Oh! Duty is an icy shadow. It will freeze you. It cannot fill the heart's sanctuary.

Oh! Duty is an icy shadow. It will freeze you. It cannot fill the heart's sanctuary.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

The notion of a farseeing and despotic statesman, who can lay down plans for ages yet unborn, is a fancy read more

The notion of a farseeing and despotic statesman, who can lay down plans for ages yet unborn, is a fancy generated by the pride of the human intellect to which facts give no support.

At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and read more

At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.

The law giver, of all beings, most owes the law allegiance. He of all men should behave as though the read more

The law giver, of all beings, most owes the law allegiance. He of all men should behave as though the law compelled him. But it is the universal weakness of mankind that what we are given to administer we presently imagine we own.

Oh, I'm not going to do anything to them. The thought that I might will be enough to keep them read more

Oh, I'm not going to do anything to them. The thought that I might will be enough to keep them going.

People constantly speak of "the government" doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the read more

People constantly speak of "the government" doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men. They may have some better man working for them, but they themselves are seldom worthy of any respect.

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the read more

It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying read more

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don't like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don't expect freedom to survive very long.