"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."

Thomas Babington Macaulay Politics See all quotes by Thomas Babington Macaulay →

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“Nobles by the right of an earlier creation, and priests by the imposition of a mightier hand.”

“The object of oratory alone is not truth, but persuasion.”

“Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely.”

“The dust and silence of the upper shelf.”

“In order that he might rob a neighbour whom he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel and red men scalped each other by the great lakes of North America.”

“I shall not be satisfied unless I produce something which shall for a few days supersede the last fashionable novel on the tables of young ladies.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Marx warned that capitalism has built within it the seeds of its own destruction.... Unable to expand and generate profits at past levels, the capitalist system would begin to consume the structures t…"

— Chris Hedges

Politics1956

#money

"What was intended is plain. It was intended to appease them. Why was this particular moment selected for their appeasement? I will tell your Lordships why. It was because a grave threat had been made …"

— F. E. Smith

Politics1872–1930

#politics

"We do not want a united Germany. This would lead to a change to postwar borders, and we cannot allow that because such a development would undermine the stability of the whole international situation …"

— Margaret Thatcher

Politics1925–2013

#change

"Have you never seen human beings acting in a mob-frenzy? Have you never seen a religious rite that tipped people over the edge? Did you not see footage of the rock-and-roll music concerts they have in…"

— Adam Roberts

Literature1965

#Human Nature