Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.

All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the read more

All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the rest in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest.

The common good comes before the private good.

The common good comes before the private good.

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.

To complain of lack of leadership is, in the field of political affairs, the characteristic attitude of all harbingers of read more

To complain of lack of leadership is, in the field of political affairs, the characteristic attitude of all harbingers of dictatorship.

When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.

When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.

The right to be let alone is the underlying principle of the Constitution's Bill of Rights.

The right to be let alone is the underlying principle of the Constitution's Bill of Rights.

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.

In our own time we have seen domination spread over the social landscape to a point where it is beyond read more

In our own time we have seen domination spread over the social landscape to a point where it is beyond all human control. Compared to this stupendous mobilization of materials, of wealth, of human intellect, of human labor for the single goal of domination, all other recent human achievements pale to almost trivial significance. Our art, science, medicine, literature, music and "charitable" acts seem like mere droppings from a table on which gory feasts on the spoils of conquest have engaged the attention of a system whose appetite for rule is utterly unrestrained.