Many Men Can No More Be Kept

Judge Not According To The Orthodox Standard Of A System Religious, Philosophical, Political, But According As Things Promote, Or Fail To Promote The Delicacy, Integrity, And Authority Of Conscience.

The Epoch Of Doubt And Transition During Which The Greeks Passed From The Dim Fancies Of Mythology To The Fierce Light Of Science Was The Age Of Pericles, And The Endeavour To Substitute Certain Truth For The Prescriptions Of Impaired Authorities, Which Was Then Beginning To Absorb The Energies Of The Greek Intellect, Is The Grandest Movement In The Profane Annals Of Mankind, For To It We Owe, Even After The Immeasurable Progress Accomplished By Christianity, Much Of Our Philosophy And Far The Better Part Of The Political Knowledge We Possess.

The State Is Competent To Assign Duties And Draw The Line Between Good And Evil Only In Its Immediate Sphere. Beyond The Limits Of Things Necessary For Its Well-being, It Can Only Give Indirect Help To Fight The Battle Of Life By Promoting The Influences Which Prevail Against Temptation--religion, Education, And The Distribution Of Wealth.

Power Tends To Corrupt And Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely. Great Men Are Almost Always Bad Men, Even When They Exercise Influence And Not Authority: Still More When You Superadd The Tendency Or The Certainty Of Corruption By Authority.

Self-preservation And Self-denial: The Basis Of All Political Economy.