Political Theory Quotes

"The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the state of emergency in which we live is not the exception but the rule" "The problem with ideologies is that they fail to take into account the inherent complexity of human nature." "To rely upon conviction, devotion, and other excellent spiritual qualities; that is not to be taken seriously in politics" "If men were angels no government would be necessary" "I don't believe there is a powerful and mysterious 'popular will', a common will that expresses itself inexorably in spite of repression." "I think the government must govern as the citizens allow it to govern." "The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act" "The principle itself of liberty and the Social Contract is a rights-logic applicable to all human beings without discrimination." "In framing a government, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place, oblige it to control itself" "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." "Men rise from one ambition to another, first they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others" "In a republic this rule ought to be observed, that the majority should not have the predominant power."