This I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.
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We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may read more
We're all capable of mistakes, but I do not care to enlighten you on the mistakes we may or may not have made.
He loved politicians - even Republicans.
He loved politicians - even Republicans.
I deserve respect for the things I did not do.
I deserve respect for the things I did not do.
If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed read more
If the small minority of enlightened citizens who are able to conceive sound principles of political management do not succeed in winning the support of their fellow citizens and converting them to the endorsement of policies that bring and preserve prosperity, the cause of mankind and civilization is hopeless. There is no other means to safeguard a propitious development of human affairs than to make the masses of inferior people adopt the ideas of the elite. This has to be achieved by convincing them. It cannot be accomplished by a despotic regime that instead of enlightening the masses beats them into submission. In the long run the ideas of the majority, however detrimental they may be, will carry on. The future of mankind depends on the ability of the elite to influence public opinion in the right direction.
A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of read more
A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life.
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our read more
Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?
Power tires only those who do not have it.
Power tires only those who do not have it.
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more
Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
A conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned how to walk forward.
