Inaugural Address (4 March 1845)
Context: By the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.
“Dictatorship of the majority over the minority would be an encroachment on the rights of the individual and their prerogative to personal freedom.”
Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness (2nd Edition), 2014
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Newton Lee 236
American computer scientistRelated quotes
71. The Election of the Judiciary by The Workers
ABC's of Communism
The Jeweler’s Eye, New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons (1968) p. 68
Act IV
Flertallet har magten — desværre —; men retten har det ikke. Retten har jeg og de andre få, de enkelte. Minoriteten har altid retten. http://books.google.com/books?id=3VcqAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Flertallet+har+magten+desv%C3%A6rre+men+retten+har+det+ikke+Retten+har+jeg+og+de+andre+f%C3%A5+de+enkelte+Minoriteten+har+altid+retten%22&pg=PA134#v=onepage
The majority has the might — more's the pity — but it hasn't right. I am right — I and one or two other individuals like me. The minority is always right. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl0Xb4lPL5IC&q=%22The+majority+has+the+might+more's+the+pity+but+it+hasn't+right+I+am+right+I+and+one+or+two+other+individuals+like+me+The+minority+is+always+right%22&pg=PA96#v=onepage
An Enemy of the People (1882)
Context: Dr, Stockmann: It is the majority in our community that denies me my freedom and seeks to prevent my speaking the truth.
Hovstad: The majority always has right on its side.
Billing: And truth too, by God!
Dr. Stockmann: The majority never has right on its side. Never I say! That is one of those social lies against which an independent, intelligent man must wage war. Who is it that constitute the majority of the population in a country? Is it the clever folk or the stupid? I don't imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over. But, good Lord!— you can never pretend that it is right that the stupid folk should govern the clever ones! [the crowd cries out] Oh yes— you can shout me down, I know! But you cannot answer me. The majority has might on its side-unfortunately; but right it has not. I am in the right— I and a few other scattered individuals. The minority is always in the right.
“The minority is always in the right. The majority is always in the wrong.”
Attributed to Twain, but never sourced. Suspiciously close to "A minority may be right, and the majority is always in the wrong." — Henrik Ibsen "Enemy of the People," as well as a famous quote from Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard
Misattributed
The Ultimate Minority Right http://takimag.com/article/the_ultimate_minority_right_steve_sailer/print#axzz4A9Spob5l, Taki's Magazine, February 10, 2016