“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”
It was Joseph de Maistre who wrote in 1811 "Every nation gets the government it deserves."
Misattributed
"Sayings" at Richard Stallman's personal site (c. 2001) http://www.stallman.org/sayings.html
2000s
“In a democracy, the people get the government they deserve.”
It was Joseph de Maistre who wrote in 1811 "Every nation gets the government it deserves."
Misattributed
Lords of the Press (1938)
Incorporates the famous observation of Joseph de Maistre that "every nation gets the government it deserves."
Letter to Cassandra (1798-12-24) [Letters of Jane Austen -- Brabourne Edition]
Letters
“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.”
Richard Stallman's dissenting view on Steve Jobs http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/10/steve-jobs-stallman-dissenting-view.html in The Los Angeles Times (8 October 2011)
2010s
Dissenting, Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S. Ct. 2584, 192 L. Ed. 2d 609 (2015) ; decided June 26, 2015.
2010s
"A Few Pages of Notes," http://books.google.com/books?id=hXVHAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Democracy+is+the+theory+that+the+common+people+know+what+they+want+and+deserve+to+get+it+good+and+hard%22&pg=PA435#v=onepage The Smart Set (January 1915); later published in A Little Book in C major http://books.google.com/books?id=EAJbAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Democracy+is+the+theory+that+the+common+people+know+what+they+want+and+deserve+to+get+it+good+and+hard%22&pg=PA19#v=onepage (1916), and A Mencken Crestomathy (1949)
1910s
Source: A Little Book in C Major
“People who sacrifice beauty for efficiency get what they deserve. (Bernard Mickey Wrangle, p 99)”
Source: Still Life with Woodpecker