"I have often before now been convinced that a democracy is incapable of empire..."

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“Right or community of blood was not the bond of union between them, so much as interest or compulsion as the case may be.”

“I am more afraid of our own blunders than of the enemy's devices.”

“That war is an evil is a proposition so familiar to every one that it would be tedious to develop it. No one is forced to engage in it by ignorance, or kept out of it by fear, if he fancies there is anything to be gained by it.”

“In a democracy . . . someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.”

“self-control contains honour as a chief constituent, and honour bravery.”

“Perseus Project Thucydides, Table of Contents”

Resonant Thoughts

"Common sense and not bravado would dictate the British Government's policy."

— Edward Wood

Military1841–1898

#politics

"Carolina or Virginia may try to break away. In the effort it may destroy its local government as it has now destroyed it, except by successful revolution no rebellious state can escape the jurisdictio…"

— George William Curtis

Social Activism1824–1892

#politics

"We now know that linguistic change does not operate in such an across-the-board manner. Some speakers introduce the change into their speech before others; some use it more frequently and consistently…"

— David Crystal

1941

#books

"Further insight into the poor quality of human life can be gained from considering various traits that are often thought to be components of a good life and by noting what limited quantities of these …"

— David Benatar

Philosophy1966

#knowledge