WIST QuotationsAug 5

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

It seems to me that it is the part of common sense for the world as a whole to protest in its own interest against wholesale persecution, because none of us by ourselves would be strong enough to stand against a big enough group which decided to treat us in the same way. We may have our individual likes and dislikes, but this is a question which far transcends prejudices or inclinations.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) First Lady of the US (1933-45), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1943-08-13), “My Day”

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/78…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #coexistence #commonsense #enlightenedselfinterest #persecution #prejudice #solidarity #target #tolerance #tyrannyofthemajority

Column (1943-08-13), "My Day" - Roosevelt, Eleanor | WIST Quotations

It seems to me that it is the part of common sense for the world as a whole to protest in its own interest against wholesale persecution, because none of us by ourselves would be strong enough to stand against a big enough group which decided to treat us in…

WIST Quotations
WIST QuotationsMay 30

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

On every hand are the enemies of individuality and mental freedom. Custom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the tomb. Our first questions are answered by ignorance, and our last by superstition. We are pushed and dragged by countless hands along the beaten track, and our entire training can be summed up in the word –suppression. Our desire to have a thing or to do a thing is considered as conclusive evidence that we ought not to have it, and ought not to do it. At every turn we run against cherubim and a flaming sword guarding some entrance to the Eden of our desire. We are allowed to investigate all subjects in which we feel no particular interest, and to express the opinions of the majority with the utmost freedom. We are taught that liberty of speech should never be carried to the extent of contradicting the dead witnesses of a popular superstition. Society offers continual rewards for self-betrayal, and they are nearly all earned and claimed, and some are paid.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1873-12) “Individuality,” Chicago Free Religious Society

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #uniformity #religiousintolerance #conformity #groupthink #intolerance #orthodoxy #regulation #religion #selfbetrayal #society #suppression #tyrannyofthemajority

Show threadsgt1372May 3

@MsMerope "Right" thinking people in Congress would #impeach him & he would be arrested, convicted & imprisoned but there aren't many "right" thinking people in the country, let alone the Congress, these days. 🤷‍♂️

That's the weakness of #democracy. It's subject to the rule of the majority & if the majority are #fascists then fascism is what you're going to get. 🤦‍♂️

Have you ever read #DeTocqueville's #DemocracyInAmerica?

He identified this weakness in in this book almost 200 years ago!!!! 🙄

It's called the #TyrannyOfTheMajority!!!! It's all good when the majority are righteous & act in the benefit of all but the risk is that a tyrannical majority will come to power who does not have the best interests of the country & the people at large at heart, which seems like the situation we're in now. 🤷‍♂️

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority

Tyranny of the majority - Wikipedia

WIST QuotationsFeb 26

A quotation from Russell

One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/russell-bertrand/337…

#quote #quotes #quotation #conformity #convention #orthodoxy #publicopinion #society #submission #tyrannyofthemajority

WIST QuotationsJan 28

A quotation from John Adams

The fundamental Article of my political Creed is, that Despotism, or unlimited Sovereignty, or absolute Power is the Same in a Majority of a popular Assembly, an Aristocratical Counsel, an Oligarchical Junto and a Single Emperor. Equally arbitrary cruel bloody and in every respect, diabolical.

John Adams (1735-1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797-1801)
Letter (1815-11-13) to Thomas Jefferson

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/adams-john/1455/

#quote #quotes #quotation #absolutepower #aristocracy #autocracy #despotism #dictatorship #evil #government #monarchy #oligarchy #tyranny #tyrannyofthemajority

WIST Quotations has moved!Jan 1

A quotation from Russell, Bertrand:

«
One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/russell-bertrand/3374/

#quote #quotes #quotation #publicopinion #society #submission #tyrannyofthemajority

WIST Quotations has moved!Oct 15, 2024

A quotation from Housman, A. E.:

«
And how am I to face the odds
Of man’s bedevilment and God’s?
I, a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/housman-a-e/1965/

#quote #quotes #quotation #bother #control #divinelaw #God #laws #rules #tyrannyofthemajority

WIST Quotations has moved!Oct 10, 2024

A quotation from Roosevelt, Theodore:

«
The good citizen will demand liberty for himself, and as a matter of pride he will see to it that others receive the liberty which he thus claims as his own. Probably the best test of true love of liberty in any country is the way in which minorities are treated in that country.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/roosevelt-theodore/15037/

#quote #quotes #quotation #civilrights #equalrights #freedom #liberty #minorities #tyrannyofthemajority

Torparskytt 🏴‍☠️Sep 26, 2024
”[We] had simply traded monarchs for majorities, aristocrats for administrators, and one privileged elite for another. We are still abused and oppressed. Our fate is still in the hands of people who claim a “right” to rule over us.” #TyrannyOfTheMajority https://mostr.pub/objects/bf83995725caef57e38950299ad4b8d7601857845c3ff8e1945485d45c4eee35
Short Text Note by David Neilson

seen on relay.damus.io, relay.nostr.band, relay.primal.net

David Neilson (npub1ce…0qvvd)
WIST Quotations has moved!Aug 30, 2024

A quotation from Horace:

«
The man of firm and righteous will,
No rabble, clamorous for the wrong,
No tyrant’s brow, whose frown may kill,
Can shake the strength that makes him strong.
»

Full quote, sourcing, notes:
https://wist.info/horace/71802/

#quote #quotes #quotation #courage #danger #determination #justice #mob #popularopinion #purpose #resolve #righteousness #steadfastness #strength #stubbornness #tenacity #threat #tyrannyofthemajority #tyrant #will

Odes [Carmina], Book 3, # 3, l. 1ff (3.3.1-4) (23 BC) [tr. Conington (1872)] - Horace | WIST Quotations

The man of firm and righteous will, No rabble, clamorous for the wrong, No tyrant's brow, whose frown may kill, Can shake the strength that makes him strong. [Iustum et tenacem propositi virum non civium ardor prava iubentium, non voltus instantis tyranni mente quatit solida] (Source (Latin)). Alternate translations: An…

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