Up men to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia. - Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

Up men to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from old Virginia. - Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.

The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. read more

The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. The ideal of democracy rests on the belief that the view which will direct government emerges from an independent and spontaneous process. It requires, therefore, the existence of a large sphere independent of majority control in which the opinions of the individuals are formed.

It is seldom that any liberty is lost all at once.

It is seldom that any liberty is lost all at once.

[expressing John Locke's view]...whenever anyone threatens any other innocent human in a way that makes manifest an ignorance or disregard read more

[expressing John Locke's view]...whenever anyone threatens any other innocent human in a way that makes manifest an ignorance or disregard of the fundamental equality as regards the right to self-preservation, the creature in human shape who acts in this way is to be treated by any and all other rational humans as a wild, clever, and therefore very dangerous animal, to be destroyed (if necessary) in order to safeguard the rest.

...democracy can be interpreted to assert not only equality before the law but also essentialistic identity in all respects. This read more

...democracy can be interpreted to assert not only equality before the law but also essentialistic identity in all respects. This is expressed in the claim, "All men are created equal," which is something very different from the statement, "All men have equal rights and are equal before the law." Anyone who believes in the genetic uniqueness of every individual thereby believes in the conclusion, "No two individuals are created equal.".

Progress is precisely that which the rules and regulations did not foresee.

Progress is precisely that which the rules and regulations did not foresee.

Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in read more

Sensible and responsible women do not want to vote. The relative positions to be assumed by man and woman in the working out of our civilization were assigned long ago by a higher intelligence than ours.

It is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer.

It is better that ten guilty escape than one innocent suffer.

...a man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.

...a man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes.