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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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  23  /  22  

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

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We should...be able to see that our interest would be best served not by asking the state to promulgate our read more

We should...be able to see that our interest would be best served not by asking the state to promulgate our values but by forbidding the state to promulgate any values at all. If the state can espouse some value that we love, it can, with equal justice, espouse others we do not love.

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A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep read more

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. - "Amendment II".

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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.

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War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.

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I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty.

I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty.

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A man is not finished when he's defeated; he's finished when he quits.

A man is not finished when he's defeated; he's finished when he quits.

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Sometimes you wonder how you got on this mountain. But sometimes you wonder, "How will I get off?".

Sometimes you wonder how you got on this mountain. But sometimes you wonder, "How will I get off?".

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Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

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