Politics / Government Quotes ( 50 - 60 of 719 )
Every device employed to bolster individual freedom must have as its chief purpose the impairment of the absoluteness of power. read more
Every device employed to bolster individual freedom must have as its chief purpose the impairment of the absoluteness of power. The indications are that such an impairment is brought about not by strengthening the individual and pitting him against the possessors of power, but by distributing and diversifying power and pitting one category or unit of power against the other. Where power is one, the defeated individual, however strong and resourceful, can have no refuge and no recourse.
Confronted with the choice, the American people would choose the policeman's truncheon over the anarchist's bomb.
Confronted with the choice, the American people would choose the policeman's truncheon over the anarchist's bomb.
The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither read more
The fact is that up to now a free society has not been good for the intellectual. It has neither accorded him a superior status to sustain his confidence nor made it easy for him to acquire an unquestioned sense of social usefulness. For he derives his sense of usefulness mainly from directing, instructing, and planning- from minding other people's business- and is bound to feel superfluous and neglected where people believe themselves competent to manage individual and communal affairs, and are impatient of supervision and regulation. A free society is as much a threat to the intellectual's sense of worth as an automated economy is to the workingman's sense of worth. Any social order that can function with a minimum of leadership will be anathema to the intellectual.
The danger inherent in reform is that the cure may be worse than the disease. Reform is an operation on read more
The danger inherent in reform is that the cure may be worse than the disease. Reform is an operation on the social body; but unlike medical surgeons, reformers are not on guard against unpredictable side effects which may divert the course of reform toward unwanted results. Moreover, quite often the social doctors become part of the disease.
Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the read more
Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep.
In war there is no substitute for victory.
In war there is no substitute for victory.
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.
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong you cannot be too conservative.
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong you cannot be too conservative.
Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the read more
Absolute power turns its possessors not into a God but an anti-God. For God turned clay into men, while the absolute despot turns men into clay.
Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of read more
Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority.
