
“The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.”
Misc Quotes
Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch) 87, 128 (1810)
“The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.”
Misc Quotes
Hayek's Journey: The Mind of Friedrich Hayek (2003)
“Certain other societies may respect the rule of force — we respect the rule of law.”
1963, Address at Vanderbilt University
Reaction to Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's address to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Nadi, 31 August 2005
Source: Propaganda (1928), p. 37 <!-- the first two sentences are very widely cited -->
Context: The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
On the United States Declaration of Independence, and the United States Constitution at the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations, Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (4 July 1976)
1970s
Context: The Declaration was not a protest against government but against the excesses of government. It prescribed the proper role of government to secure the rights of individuals and to effect their safety and their happiness. In modern society, no individual can do this all alone, so government is not necessarily evil but a necessary good.
The framers of the Constitution feared a central government that was too strong, as many Americans rightly do today. The framers of the Constitution, after their experience under the Articles, feared a central government that was too weak, as many Americans rightly do today. They spent days studying all of the contemporary governments of Europe and concluded with Dr. Franklin that all contained the seeds of their own destruction. So the framers built something new, drawing upon their English traditions, on the Roman Republic, on the uniquely American institution of the town meeting.
Book IV, ch. 4.
Knickerbocker's History of New York http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/13042 (1809)
Source: The Phoenix: Fascism in Our Time, (1999), p. 95