Rousseau had it backwards. We are NOT born free. We are born in the chains of the random and the reflexive, and are ignorant and unreasonable by simple nature. We must learn to be free, to organize the random and detect the reflexive, to acquire the knowledge of particulars and the powers of reason. The examined life is impossible if we cannot examine, order, classify, define, distinguish, always in minute particulars.
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Be England what she will, with all her faults she is my country still.
Be England what she will, with all her faults she is my country still.
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.
...when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are read more
...when we renounce the self and become part of a compact whole, we not only renounce personal advantage but are also rid of personal responsibility. There is no telling to what extremes of cruelty and ruthlessness a man will go when he is freed from the fears, hesitations, doubts and the vague stirrings of decency that go with individual judgement. When we lose our individual independence in the corporateness of a mass movement, we find a new freedom- freedom to hate, bully, lie, torture, murder and betray without shame and remorse. Herein undoubtedly lies part of the attractiveness of a mass movement.
The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.
The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.
The common good comes before the private good.
The common good comes before the private good.
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. - Inaugural Address.
Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. - Inaugural Address.
"What freedom does a starving man have?" The answer is that starvation is a tragic human condition- perhaps more tragic read more
"What freedom does a starving man have?" The answer is that starvation is a tragic human condition- perhaps more tragic than loss of freedom. That does not prevent these from being two different things.
Once you get into this great stream of history, you can't get out.
Once you get into this great stream of history, you can't get out.
Sir, I would rather be right than be President.
Sir, I would rather be right than be President.
