Robert

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
― Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers

“Problems in medicine do not mean that homeopathic sugar pills work; just because there are problems with aircraft design, that doesn't mean that magic carpets really fly.”
― Ben Goldacre, Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients

“For all that exists in man, whether good or evil, is rendered conspicuous by the presence of great danger. His inmost feelings are roused -- the thought of self-preservation masters his spirit -- self-denial is put to severe proof, and wherever darkness and barbarism prevail, there the affrighted mortal flies to the idols of his superstition, and all laws, human and divine, are criminally violated.”
― Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker, The Black Death / The Dancing Mania

“A harp can give out but a certain quantity of sound, however heavily it is smitten.”
― H. Rider Haggard, She