lippmann Quotes

“In government offices which are sensitive to the vehemence and passion of mass sentiment public men have no sure tenure. They are in effect perpetual office seekers, always on trial for their political lives, always required to court their restless constituents.”

“Most men, after a little freedom, have preferred authority with the consoling assurances and the economy of effort it brings.”

“The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on.”

“There is no arguing with the pretenders to a divine knowledge and to a divine mission. They are possessed with the sin of pride, they have yielded to the perennial temptation.”

“In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.”

“Private property was the original source of freedom. It still is its main ballpark.”

“The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully.”

“The private citizen, beset by partisan appeals for the loan of his Public Opinion, will soon see, perhaps, that these appeals are not a compliment to his intelligence, but an imposition on his good nature and an insult to his sense of evidence.”