“I am afraid the remark is too honest, and comes from the same origin as the maxim of the tyrant, "If you would rule the world quietly, you must keep it amused." I notice too, that the ground on which eminent public servants urge the claims of popular education is fear: "This country is filling up with thousands and millions of voters, and you must educate them to keep them from our throats."”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

1840s, Essays: Second Series (1844), New England Reformers

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Ralph Waldo Emerson 727

American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803–1882

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