A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.

The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.

Nothing so offends the doctrinaire intellectual as our ability to achieve the momentous in a matter-of-fact way, unblessed by words.

It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a strong feeling of guilt - are likely to be the most fervent in imposing their faith on others.

You cannot gauge the intelligence of an American by talking with him; you must work with him. The American polishes and refines his way of doing things-even the most commonplace-the way the French of the 17th century polished their maxims.

To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

A grievance is most poignant when almost redressed.