There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

The possession of unlimited power corrodes the conscience, hardens the heart, and confounds the understanding.

At all times sincere friends of freedom have been rare, and its triumphs have been due to minorities, that have prevailed by associating themselves with auxiliaries whose objects often differed from their own; and this association, which is always dangerous, has sometimes been disastrous.

The form of government and the condition of society must always correspond. Social equality is therefore a postulate of pure democracy.

There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

It is very easy to speak words of wisdom from a comfortable distance, when one sees no reality, no details, none of the effect on men's minds.

False principles, which correspond with the bad as well as with the just aspirations of mankind, are a normal and necessary element in the social life of nations.