Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems read more

Discontent is likely to be highest when misery is bearable; when conditions have so improved that an ideal state seems almost within reach. A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed. De Tocqueville in his researches into the state of society in France before the revolution was struck by the discovery that "in no one of the periods which have followed the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event." He is forced to conclude that "the French found their position the more intolerable the better it became.

The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. read more

The conception that government should be guided by majority opinion makes sense only if that opinion is independent of government. The ideal of democracy rests on the belief that the view which will direct government emerges from an independent and spontaneous process. It requires, therefore, the existence of a large sphere independent of majority control in which the opinions of the individuals are formed.

In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.

In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend.

The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are read more

The basic test of freedom is perhaps less in what we are free to do than in what we are free not to do.

If we truly cared about our children and future generations, instead of demagoging about them, we'd worry more about saving read more

If we truly cared about our children and future generations, instead of demagoging about them, we'd worry more about saving liberty than saving Social Security.

The secret of getting things done is to act!

The secret of getting things done is to act!

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest political privilege that was ever accorded to the human race.

Laywers, I suppose, were children once.

Laywers, I suppose, were children once.

All of the troubles that some people have in life is that which they married into.

All of the troubles that some people have in life is that which they married into.