“I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.”
― Letter from the Birmingham Jail
― Letter from the Birmingham Jail
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”
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“High hopes were once formed of democracy; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.”
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“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”
― Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
― Barbarians Inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
Michael’s 2024 Year in Books
Take a look at Michael’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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