Thursday, October 18, 2007

A anarchist's motto

If men were angels, there would be no need for government.

If men were angels, they could be trusted to government.

4 comments:

Mintie said...

The original quote, for reference, by the brilliant James Madison

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. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

rishimon said...

What I especially like about Madison is that he implies the anarchist's quote in is next sentence: "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary." Either way, I'd recommend reading the Federalist it was published in (51st); it's one of the more memorable ones. Constitution.org is probably your best source.

samuel moginie said...

"An". "An anarchist's motto". You're on grammar watch.

rishimon said...

As previously discussed, the grammatical 'error' was deliberate.