Given one well-trained physician of the highest type he will do better work for a thousand people than ten specialists.

Given one well-trained physician of the highest type he will do better work for a thousand people than ten specialists.

Man's rights are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of read more

Man's rights are evident branches of, rather than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature.

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of congress; but I repeat myself.

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of congress; but I repeat myself.

Systems are to be appreciated by their general effects, and not by particular exceptions.

Systems are to be appreciated by their general effects, and not by particular exceptions.

Who overcomesBy force, hath overcome but half his foe.

Who overcomesBy force, hath overcome but half his foe.

In modern war, the longest purse decides oftener than the longest sword.

In modern war, the longest purse decides oftener than the longest sword.

The more the world is specialized the more it will be run by generalists.

The more the world is specialized the more it will be run by generalists.

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most read more

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most vitally from democracy. In a despotism there is no organized opposition which can take over the power when the Administration in office has failed. All the eggs are in one basket. Everything is staked on one coterie of men. When the going is good, they move more quickly and efficiently than democracies, where the opposition has to be persuaded and conciliated. But when they lose, there are no reserves. There are no substitutes on the bench ready to go out on the field and carry the ball. That is why democracies with the habit of party government have outlived all other forms of government in the modern world. They have, as it were, at least two governments always at hand, and when one fails they have the other. They have diversified the risks of mortality, corruption, and stupidity which pervade all human affairs. They have remembered that the most beautifully impressive machine cannot run for very long unless there is available a complete supply of spare parts.

Even a cursory glance at history should convince one that individual crimes committed for selfish motives play a quite insignificant read more

Even a cursory glance at history should convince one that individual crimes committed for selfish motives play a quite insignificant part in the human tragedy, compared to the numbers massacred in unselfish loyalty to one's tribe, nation, dynasty, church, or political ideology, ad majorem gloriam dei. The emphasis is on unselfish. Excepting a small minority of mercenary or sadistic disposition, wars are not fought for personal gain, but out of loyalty and devotion to king, country or cause. Homicide committed for personal reasons is a statistical rarity in all cultures, including our own. Homicide for unselfish reasons, at the risk of one's own life, is the dominant phenomenon of history.