Free institutions are not the property of any majority. They do not confer upon majorities unlimited powers. The rights of the majority are limited rights. They are limited not only by the constitutional guarantees but by the moral principle implied in those guarantees. That principle is that men may not use the facilities of liberty to impair them. No man may invoke a right in order to destroy it.
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A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep read more
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. - "Amendment II".
Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Who overcomesBy force, hath overcome but half his foe.
Who overcomesBy force, hath overcome but half his foe.
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.
They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have read more
They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have boldly affirmed that "one man is as good as another;" a maxim that is true in neither nature, revealed morals, nor political theory.
Glory is the child of peril.
Glory is the child of peril.
Political scientists almost everywhere have promoted the expansion of government power. They have functioned as the clergy of oppression.
Political scientists almost everywhere have promoted the expansion of government power. They have functioned as the clergy of oppression.
Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.
Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master.
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric.
