“In our governments, the real power lies in the majority of the community, and the invasion of private rights is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of government contrary to the sense of its constituents, but from acts in which the government is the mere instrument of the major number of the constituents.”

Simplified Meaning:

In a democratic society, most decisions are made by what the majority wants. This means that sometimes the government's actions only reflect the desires of the larger group of people, even if it harms the rights of a smaller group. For example, imagine a town where most people want to build a big shopping mall, even though it would destroy a beautiful park that some people love. The government might go ahead with building the mall because that's what most people want, even though it's unfair to the park's supporters. This quote suggests that we should be careful because the majority's power can sometimes lead to unfair treatment of the minority. To prevent this, it's important for everyone, including the government, to protect individual rights and consider the needs of all groups, not just the largest one. This way, decisions are fairer and everyone feels respected.