Demagogue: one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

Demagogue: one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.

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.

You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these read more

You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.

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.

The plans differ; the planners are all alike...

The plans differ; the planners are all alike...

Show me the country that has no strikes and I'll show you the country in which there is no liberty.

Show me the country that has no strikes and I'll show you the country in which there is no liberty.

I deserve respect for the things I did not do.

I deserve respect for the things I did not do.

The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark.

The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.