No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.

No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.

We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the read more

We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends.

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

Except in the sacred texts of democracy and in the incantations of orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend read more

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.

Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the read more

Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep.

Democracy: In which you say what you like and do what you're told.

Democracy: In which you say what you like and do what you're told.

When freedom prevails, the ingenuity and inventiveness of people creates incredible wealth. This is the source of the natural improvement read more

When freedom prevails, the ingenuity and inventiveness of people creates incredible wealth. This is the source of the natural improvement of the human condition.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

All revolutions...have been led by persons who knew oppression well, but not on their own skin.

All revolutions...have been led by persons who knew oppression well, but not on their own skin.