Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more

Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.

It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales!

It profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world... but for Wales!

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the read more

Freedom means freedom from forces and circumstances which would turn man into a thing, which would impose on man the passivity and predictability of matter. By this test, absolute power is the manifestation most inimical to human uniqueness. Absolute power wants to turn people into malleable clay.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

...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.

It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.

It is difficult to discern a serious threat to religious liberty from a room of silent, thoughtful schoolchildren.

Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic.

Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic.

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.

If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal.

We are all in it together. This is a war. We take a few shots and it will be over. read more

We are all in it together. This is a war. We take a few shots and it will be over. We will give them a few shots and it will be over.