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Russell observes that "the merits of democracy are negative: it does not ensure good government, but it prevents certain evils," such as the evil of a...more

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Advocates of capitalism like to appeal to the sacred principles of liberty, which are embodied in one maxim: The fortunate must not be restrained in t...more

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The problem of finding a collection of “wise” men and leaving the government to them is thus an insoluble one. That is the ultimate reason for democra...more

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The problem of political theory is how to combine that degree of individual initiative which is necessary for progress, with the degree of social cohe...more

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For my part, while I am as convinced a Socialist as the most ardent Marxian, I do not regard Socialism as a gospel of proletarian revenge, nor even, p...more

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In Labor movements generally, success through violence can hardly be expected except in circumstances where success without violence is attainable.

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Religious toleration, to a certain extent, has been won, because people have ceased to consider religion so important as it was once thought to be. Bu...more

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[T]he infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists. That is why they invented Hell.

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The skill of the politician consists in guessing what people can be brought to think advantageous to themselves; the skill of the experts consists in ...more

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The only kind of appeal that wins any instinctive response in party politics is an appeal to hostile feeling; the men who perceive the need of coopera...more

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The special skill of the politician consists in knowing what passions can be most easily aroused, and how to prevent them, when aroused, from being ha...more

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When the qualities that now confer leadership have become universal, there will no longer be leaders and followers, and democracy will have been reali...more