Neither Democrats, Nor Dictators: Anarchists (1926)
Context: !-- The majority is, by definition, backward, conservative, enemy of the new, sluggish in thought and deed and at the same time impulsive, immoderate, suggestible, facile in its enthusiasms and irrational fears. --> Every new idea stems from one or a few individuals, is accepted, if viable, by a more or less sizeable minority and wins over the majority, if ever, only after it has been superseded by new ideas and new needs and has already become outdated and rather an obstacle, rather than a spur to progress.
But do we, then, want a minority government?
Certainly not. If it is unjust and harmful for a majority to oppress minorities and obstruct progress, it is even more unjust and harmful for a minority to oppress the whole population or impose its own ideas by force which even if they are good ones would excite repugnance and opposition because of the very fact of being imposed.
And then, one must not forget that there are all kinds of different minorities. There are minorities of egoists and villains as there are of fanatics who believe themselves to be possessed of absolute truth and, in perfectly good faith, seek to impose on others what they hold to be the only way to salvation, even if it is simple silliness. There are minorities of reactionaries who seek to turn back the clock and are divided as to the paths and limits of reaction. And there are revolutionary minorities, also divided on the means and ends of revolution and on the direction that social progress should take.
Which minority should take over?
This is a matter of brute force and capacity for intrigue, and the odds that success would fall to the most sincere and most devoted to the general good are not favourable. To conquer power one needs qualities that are not exactly those that are needed to ensure that justice and well-being will triumph in the world.
Source: Sustainable History and the Dignity of Man (2009), p.219
Election 2017: May wants farm trade with EU to continue https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-40166689 BBC News (6 June 2017)
2010s, On Brexit
Source: The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
Interview with David Brancaccio (2003)
Context: We need to maintain law and order. We need to maintain peace in the world. We need to protect the environment. We need to have some degree of social justice, equality of opportunity. The markets are not designed to take care of those needs. That's a political process. And the market fundamentalists have managed to reduce providing those public goods.
Twilight of the Idols (1888)
Quoted in Mathrubhumi https://english.mathrubhumi.com/mobile/news/kerala/collector-divya-s-iyer-envisions-a-women-friendly-pathanamthitta-women-empowerment-pathanamthitta-divya-s-iyer-1.5877873
The Tonight Show, 11 September 2006
Context: In a world where there is enlightenment, intelligence, kindness, awareness of others' needs and others' well-being, there is no terrorism. And in a world of viciousness and narrow-mindedness and only one way, there will be terrorism. Our challenge, in our country, is to find a way to disagree amongst ourselves without being so awful about it.
Introduction to Poems of Power 1918 edition
