Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few.

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few.

A race of altruists is necessarily a race of slaves. A race of free men is necessarily a race of read more

A race of altruists is necessarily a race of slaves. A race of free men is necessarily a race of egoists.

No one has a right to happiness.

No one has a right to happiness.

The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man read more

The kind of man who wants the government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic.

The art of the indirect approach can only be mastered, and its full scope appreciated, by study of and reflection read more

The art of the indirect approach can only be mastered, and its full scope appreciated, by study of and reflection upon the whole history of war. But we can at least crystallize the lessons into two simple maxims- one negative, the other positive. The first is that, in face of the overwhelming evidence of history, no general is justified in launching his troops to a direct attack upon an enemy firmly in position. The second, that instead of seeking to upset the enemy's equilibrium by one's attack, it must be upset before a real attack is, or can be successfully launched.

When the people have no tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one.

When the people have no tyrant, their own public opinion becomes one.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

It is the nature of slavery to render its victims so abject that at last, fearing to be free, they read more

It is the nature of slavery to render its victims so abject that at last, fearing to be free, they multiply their own chains. You can liberate a freeman, but you cannot liberate a slave.

The inner censor of the mind of the true believer completes the work of the public censor; his self-discipline is read more

The inner censor of the mind of the true believer completes the work of the public censor; his self-discipline is as tyrannical as the obedience imposed by the regime; he terrorizes his own conscience into submission; he carries his private Iron Curtain inside his skull, to protect his illusions against the intrusion of reality.