What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If read more

What the public does is not to express its opinions but to align itself for or against a proposal. If that theory is accepted, we must abandon the notion that democratic government can be the direct expression of the will of the people. We must abandon the notion that the people govern. Instead we must adopt the theory that, by their occasional mobilizations as a majority, people support or oppose the individuals who actually govern. We must say that the popular will does not direct continuously but that it intervenes occasionally.

We are anxious when there is a dissonance between our "knowledge" and the perceivable facts. Since our "knowledge" is not read more

We are anxious when there is a dissonance between our "knowledge" and the perceivable facts. Since our "knowledge" is not to be doubted or questioned, it is the facts that have to be altered...

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game and read more

Being in politics is like being a football coach. You have to be smart enough to understand the game and dumb enough to think it's important.

The right to be heard does not autmatically include the right to be taken seriously.

The right to be heard does not autmatically include the right to be taken seriously.

I do not believe that the men who served in uniform in Vietnam have been given the credit they deserve. read more

I do not believe that the men who served in uniform in Vietnam have been given the credit they deserve. It was a difficult war against an unorthodox enemy.

When I talked to him on the phone yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President. But, in read more

When I talked to him on the phone yesterday. I called him George rather than Mr. Vice President. But, in public, it's Mr. Vice President, because that is who he is.

In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.

In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith.

The people who remained victorious were less like conquerors than conquered.

The people who remained victorious were less like conquerors than conquered.

...regrettable as it may seem to the idealist, the experience of history provides little warrant for the belief that real read more

...regrettable as it may seem to the idealist, the experience of history provides little warrant for the belief that real progress, and the freedom that makes progress possible, lies in unification. For where unification has been able to establish unity of ideas it has usually ended in uniformity, paralysing the growth of new ideas. And where the unification has merely brought about an artificial or imposed unity, its irksomeness has led through discord to disruption.Vitality springs from diversity- which makes for real progress so long as there is mutual toleration, based on the recognition that worse may come from an attempt to suppress differences than from acceptance of them. For this reason, the kind of peace that makes progress possible is best assured by the mutual checks created by a balance of forces- alike in the sphere of internal politics and of international relations.