As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State "What does it matter to me?" the State may be given up for lost.
If there were a nation of Gods, it would govern itself democratically. A government so perfect is not suited to men.
The word ‘slavery’ and ‘right’ are contradictory, they cancel each other out. Whether as between one man and another, or between one man and a whole people, it would always be absurd to say: "I hereby make a covenant with you which is wholly ...
Renunciar a la libertad es renunciar a la condición de hombre.
[T]he mere impulse of appetite is slavery, while obedience to a law which we prescribe to ourselves is liberty.
Every man having been born free and master of himself, no one else may under any pretext whatever subject him without his consent. To assert that the son of a slave is born a slave is to assert that he is not born a man.
Liberty may be gained, but can never be recovered." (Bk2:8)
Our will is always for our own good, but we do not always see what that is; the people is never corrupted, but it is often deceived..." (Bk2:3)
What, then, is the government? An intermediary body established between the subjects and the sovereign for their mutual communication, a body charged with the execution of the laws and the maintenance of freedom, both civil and political.
In any case, frequent punishments are a sign of weakness or slackness in the government. There is no man so bad that he cannot be made good for something. No man should be put to death, even as an example, if he can be left to live without danger to ...
To renounce liberty is to renounce being a man, to surrender the rights of humanity and even its duties.
To renounce freedom is to renounce one's humanity, one's rights as a man and equally one's duties.
