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Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments QUOTES

Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments QUOTES

1 " If political authority is not limited, the division of powers, ordinarily the guarantee of freedom, becomes a danger and a scourge. "

― Benjamin Constant , Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments

2 " The actions of government, we are told, bear down only on imprudent souls who provoke them. The man who resigns himself and keeps silent is always safe. Reassured by this worthless and specious argument, we do not protest against the oppressors. Instead we find fault with the victims. Nobody knows how to be brave even prudentially. Everyone stays silent, keeping his head low in the self-deceiving hope of disarming the powers that be by his silence. People give despotism free access, flattering themselves they will be treated with consideration. Eyes to the ground, each person walks in silence the narrow path leading him safely to the tomb. "

― Benjamin Constant , Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments

3 " It is a great vice for any constitution to leave to powerful men no alternative between their own power and the scaffold. "

― Benjamin Constant , Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments

4 " One does not conjure away dangers by shielding them from the public eye. Far from it: they grow from the very night which surrounds them. Objects look larger in the darkness. In the shadow, everything appears gigantic and hostile. "

― Benjamin Constant , Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments

5 " Sovereignty has only a limited and relative existence. At the point where independence and individual existence begin, the jurisdiction of sovereignty ends. "

― Benjamin Constant , Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments