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    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.

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What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race.

What is history but the story of how politicians have squandered the blood and treasure of the human race.

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The office of president is a bastardized thing, half royalty and half democracy, that nobody knows whether to genuflect or read more

The office of president is a bastardized thing, half royalty and half democracy, that nobody knows whether to genuflect or spit.

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An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.

An ambassador is not simply an agent; he is also a spectacle.

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Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in.

Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in.

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This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of read more

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.

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I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends. read more

I have no trouble with my enemies. I can take care of my enemies all right. But my damn friends. They're the ones that keep me walking the floor nights!

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...when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are read more

...when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are also rid of personal responsibility. There is no telling to what extremes of cruelty and ruthlessness a man will go when he is freed from the fears, hesitations, doubts and the vague stirrings of decency that go with individual judgement. When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom- freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse. Herein undoubtedly lies part of the attractiveness of a mass movement.

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No one has a right to happiness.

No one has a right to happiness.

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Politics: (noun) From Greek, poly, meaning many, and ticks, meaning bloodsuckers.

Politics: (noun) From Greek, poly, meaning many, and ticks, meaning bloodsuckers.

by Anon. Found in: Politics / government Quotes,
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