Walter Lippmann ( 10 of 27 )
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will read more
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.
People that are orthodox when they are young are in danger of being middle-aged all their lives.
People that are orthodox when they are young are in danger of being middle-aged all their lives.
We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made read more
We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made by himself or given to him. If his atlas tells him the world is flat he will not sail near what he believes to be the edge of our planet for fear of falling off. If his maps include a fountain of eternal youth, a Ponce de Leon will go off in quest of it. If someone digs up yellow dirt that looks like gold, he will for a time act exactly as if he has found gold. The way in which the world is imagined determines at any particular moment what men will do. It does not determine what they will achieve. It determines their effort, their feelings, their hopes, not their accomplishments and results.
The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of read more
The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
Free institutions are not the property of any majority. They do not confer upon majorities unlimited powers. The rights of read more
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.
The disesteem into which moralists have fallen is due at bottom to their failure to see that in an age read more
The disesteem into which moralists have fallen is due at bottom to their failure to see that in an age like this one the function of the moralist is not to exhort men to be good but to elucidate what the good is. The problem of sanctions is secondary.
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will read more
The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on. -Walter Lippmann.
Every fairly intelligent person is aware that the price of respectability is a muffled soul bent on the trivial and read more
Every fairly intelligent person is aware that the price of respectability is a muffled soul bent on the trivial and the mediocre.
It is all very well to talk about being the captain of your soul. It is hard, and only a read more
It is all very well to talk about being the captain of your soul. It is hard, and only a few heroes, saints, and geniuses have been the captains of their souls for any extended period of their lives. Most men, after a little freedom, have preferred authority with the consoling assurances and the economy of effort which it brings.
