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In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.
In the first place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.
Our elections are free -- it's in the results where eventually we pay.
Our elections are free -- it's in the results where eventually we pay.
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.
People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.
I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. - Last words, October read more
I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone. - Last words, October 12, 1915.
Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
Latin: "A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's read more
Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est."
Latin: "A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. - Letters to Lucilius.
Justice is better than chivalry if we cannot have both.
Justice is better than chivalry if we cannot have both.
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.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
When people revolt in a totalitarian society, they rise not against the wickedness of the regime but its weakness.
To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.
To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.