Tis hard to comprehend how one man can come to be master of many, equal to himself in right, unless it be by consent or by force.
Algernon Sidney[I]f vice and corruption prevail, liberty cannot subsist; but if virtue have the advantage, arbitrary power cannot be established.
Algernon SidneyEveryone sees they cannot well live asunder, nor many together, without some rule to which all must submit.
Algernon SidneyMachiavel, discoursing on these matters, finds virtue to be so essentially necessary to the establishment and preservation of liberty, that he thinks it impossible for a corrupted people to set up a good government, or for a tyranny to be introduced if they be virtuous; and makes this conclusion, 'That where the matter (that is, the body of the people) is not corrupted, tumults and disorders do not hurt; and where it is corrupted, good laws do no good:' which being confirmed by reason and experience, I think no wise man has ever contradicted him.
Algernon Sidney