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..the Bill of Rights does not come from the people and is not subject to change by majorities. It comes read more
..the Bill of Rights does not come from the people and is not subject to change by majorities. It comes from the nature of things. It declares the inalienable rights of man not only against all government but also against the people collectively.
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty read more
No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.
The common good comes before the private good.
The common good comes before the private good.
The foundation of justice is good faith.
The foundation of justice is good faith.
...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.".
We just did a survey that showed.... something like 65 percent of the [American] people couldn't vote for the First read more
We just did a survey that showed.... something like 65 percent of the [American] people couldn't vote for the First Amendment if it was up for a vote today.
People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that read more
People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that the burden falls inevitably on them.
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.
