04-13-2009, 11:19 PM
Your post was very well written! I liked most of it. But thank god for the "few very vocal and insistant individuals that will never get on board with the majority" Freedom isn't about the majority, our founding fathers went to great lengths to ensure the majority didn't rule as they feared tyranny of the majority and freedom is chaotic but it is better than a well controlled orderly tyranny with only one opinion allowed.
The majority never has right on its side. Never, I say! That is one of these social lies against which an independent, intelligent men must wage war. Who is it that constitute the majority of the population in a country? Is it the clever folk, or the stupid? I donât imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over. But, good Lord!âyou can never pretend that it is right that the stupid folk should govern the clever ones I (Uproar and cries.) Oh, yesâyou can shout me down, I know! But you cannot answer me. The majority has might on its sideâunfortunately; but right it has not. I am in the rightâI and a few other scattered individuals. The minority is always in the right.
-Henrik Ibsen, excerpt from âEnemy of the Peopleâ [character Dr. Stockmann] <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. -Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776 <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
Of what use is freedom of speech to those who fear to offend? -Roger Ebert <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. -Bertrand Russell <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority. -Lord (John Emerich Edward Dalberg) Acton <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
The most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majorityâ yes, the damned compact Liberal majorityâ that is it! Now you know!
-Henrik Ibsen, Enemy of the People (p.117) <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
"...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds..."
-Samuel Adams <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
The majority never has right on its side. Never, I say! That is one of these social lies against which an independent, intelligent men must wage war. Who is it that constitute the majority of the population in a country? Is it the clever folk, or the stupid? I donât imagine you will dispute the fact that at present the stupid people are in an absolutely overwhelming majority all the world over. But, good Lord!âyou can never pretend that it is right that the stupid folk should govern the clever ones I (Uproar and cries.) Oh, yesâyou can shout me down, I know! But you cannot answer me. The majority has might on its sideâunfortunately; but right it has not. I am in the rightâI and a few other scattered individuals. The minority is always in the right.
-Henrik Ibsen, excerpt from âEnemy of the Peopleâ [character Dr. Stockmann] <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen. -Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776 <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
Of what use is freedom of speech to those who fear to offend? -Roger Ebert <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
One should respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. -Bertrand Russell <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect." -Mark Twain <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority. -Lord (John Emerich Edward Dalberg) Acton <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
The most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom amongst us is the compact majorityâ yes, the damned compact Liberal majorityâ that is it! Now you know!
-Henrik Ibsen, Enemy of the People (p.117) <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
"...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds..."
-Samuel Adams <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.quoteland.com">http://www.quoteland.com</a><!-- m -->
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere / Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter / Injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates - Martin Luther King Jr.