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    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.

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  16  /  24  

From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need.

From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need.

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Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

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Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.

Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond.

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By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the healing.

By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the healing.

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He loved politicians - even Republicans.

He loved politicians - even Republicans.

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One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

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What kind of world is this that can send machines to Mars and does nothing to stop the killing of read more

What kind of world is this that can send machines to Mars and does nothing to stop the killing of a human being?

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Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, and that of rights. Equality of condition is read more

Equality, in a social sense, may be divided into that of condition, and that of rights. Equality of condition is incompatible with civilization, and is found only to exist in those communities that are but slightly removed from the savage state. In practice, it can only mean a common misery.

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The college idealists who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the read more

The college idealists who fill the ranks of the environmental movement seem willing to do absolutely anything to save the biosphere, except take science courses and learn something about it.

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