Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the
systematic organization of hatreds.

Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been the
systematic organization of hatreds.

If you seek violence, we will seek to put you in jail.

If you seek violence, we will seek to put you in jail.

All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.

All leaders strive to turn their followers into children.

So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a read more

So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we'll be called a democracy.

The world of politics is always twenty years behind the world of thought.

The world of politics is always twenty years behind the world of thought.

One of the peculiarities of the American Revolution was that its leaders pinned their hopes on the organization of decision-making read more

One of the peculiarities of the American Revolution was that its leaders pinned their hopes on the organization of decision-making units, the structuring of their incentives, and the counterbalancing of the units against one another, rather than on the more usual (and more exciting) principle of substituting "the good guys" for "the bad guys.".

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

There must be no barriers for freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is read more

There must be no barriers for freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most read more

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most vitally from democracy. In a despotism there is no organized opposition which can take over the power when the Administration in office has failed. All the eggs are in one basket. Everything is staked on one coterie of men. When the going is good, they move more quickly and efficiently than democracies, where the opposition has to be persuaded and conciliated. But when they lose, there are no reserves. There are no substitutes on the bench ready to go out on the field and carry the ball. That is why democracies with the habit of party government have outlived all other forms of government in the modern world. They have, as it were, at least two governments always at hand, and when one fails they have the other. They have diversified the risks of mortality, corruption, and stupidity which pervade all human affairs. They have remembered that the most beautifully impressive machine cannot run for very long unless there is available a complete supply of spare parts.