Marcus Aurelius Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority,
but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."

by:	Marcus Aurelius [Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus] (121-180) Roman emperor (161-180)
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Categories:	Collectivism, Democracy, Proverbs, Sanity, Self-Determination
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Reader comments about this quote:

Just look at the way the health bill is being relentlessly pushed on America when it's obvious the people don't want it. Just as the bailout was shoved through we are now hearing out of necissity we will have a health bill before the end of the year. As history shows, all they need is a foot in the door then the laws can be modified and added to so as to centralize control over society.This is why the health bill is being hurried up to become law.It's insane what Americans are allowing to happen to their country. -- Anon 2
5 stars for comedic relief, a tongue in cheek slap at those that think the majority is always right and, any and all of those that disagree with the majority or, tries to do the right thing in spite of the majority are insane. A thumbs down at how those perceiving themselves in the majority, or support the majority, just because they are the majority, can without humor, will interpret or use the quote. -- Mike, Norwalk 4
What can the majority of the last presidential election claim that does not sound insane? -- cal, lewisville, tx 2
The majority embraces insanity at the ballot box when a slick politician promises hope and change. -- jim k, austin 2
...and if you oppose this politician it's only because you're a racist. -- jim k, austin 2
The object of life is not to avoid the ranks of the insane, but rather to find and aid the ranks of the clear thinking... perhaps a subtle but none the less importance difference. Yes Anon, it is insane that we are getting such a compromise health care bill when the right answer is so clearly to eliminate all age limits from Medicare to bring us a single payer system and eliminate the middleman that adds no value but extracts its price. No jim, you oppose Obama either because you are a fool or because he has actually not gone far enough in his middle of the road path. -- Anonymous, Reston, VA, US 4
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Keep voting! -- J Carlton, Calgary 2
Great! Anon knows nothing about the health care issue. It has been going on for 100 years. Universal Health Care was first proposed by Theodore Roosevelt. Insurance is a scam, a form of gambling. Every state has an Insurance Commissioner to watch orver the fleecing of the people. A Public Option (option I say not forced upon anyone) with the States and their Commisioners deciding to opt in or opt out, controling and overseeing it would be another option to the greedy for profit insurance comes. If you are for FREEDOM how can you be against people having more options. The bill under consideration requires that each of these public state plans would be individually solvent costing the State or the US nothing. The two democrats most against it are from states with large insurance industries, Connecticut and Nebraska. The concept of majority is a basic plank of the concept of freedom. Minority leadership is dictatorship. States now suffer mightly with the costs of medicaid for the poor, the new law may require these poor to pay up for at least the public option. Now when uninsured go to the Emergency Rooms the Hospitals file claims withe feds and get millions if not billions in checks to cover those costs. The system needs to be changed, wake up Anon, wake up! -- Waffler, Smith 4
A fool and his money are soon parted. I guess it is not hard to recognize the insane here. ;-) Yes, insurance is a form of gambling and do not think that the government is ending that system -- it just wants a piece of the action!!! Wake the f@ck up -- are you insane?! This is about Monopolies and socialist policies are designed to shift private profits into government contractors hands. It is not hard to get the masses to clamor for the riches of another -- whether it is bombing an oil-rich nation for control over their resources or bombarding the nation with pycho-political-speak to vote away the money of someone else to pay for your drugs. In the end, MANDATORY government health care (which is what is being proposed) can be amended further and further until the government can REQUIRE you to get treatments they command -- for you own good of course. It may be illegal to not get vaccinated with untested drugs (or drugs with confirmed serious risks). Whenever the citizens expect government to remove the risks of life they forget that trusting government with your life is even more risky -- especially when it is their public policy to reduce the size of population. Talk about insane! Kool-aid anyone? -- E Archer, NYC 4
Cheers and Salutations Archer! And remember all...A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have...and that is exactly what they are doing. -- J Carlton, Calgary 2
Again medicaid and medicare are killing us financially, now the Repubs claim to be the friends of Medicare and want to maintain the current ruinous trend. The Dems are at least stepping up[ to some responsibility.Things will never be perfect as envisioned by some but they can be better as envisioned by many. -- Waffler, Smith 2
J Carlton and Archer, very well said!! So Waffler, how about returning to a rule of law, as defined by the constitutionally limiting representative republic. Let's get rid of medicaid and medicare and, the Democrats and Republicans that are killing us financially. There are ways of helping the needy other than by slavery and larceny. -- Mike, Norwalk 4
Well said Mike!!!!!!!!!!! -- cal, lewisville, tx 2
Waffler, I have lived under government controlled health systems in more than a couple of countries and I've heard your rhetoric before in different words by different people. The proof is in the pudding and if you will take the time to see what this global economic situation has done to their healthcare you will see it being decimated by cost cuts in not only healthcare but education and public services such as police and every other program the government has its fingers in. More options? I laugh. As soon as government has its foot in the door with the health program being shoved through the legislature any way they can it is only a matter of time before government increases its power and before long determines every aspect of health care. History proves this if one takes the effort to seek out the facts. Wake up Waffler, are you ignoring how much medicare and medicaid are in debt just like every program in every brach of government today. Socialists! Praise the program and it leaders in spite of the facts. Again, the blinded being led by the blind. -- Anon 2
Waffler if Medicare and Medicaid are killing us the Americade would only accelerate the destruction. Why would you attack the systems your preferred, can't do wrong, leaders enacted? If any one tried to improve or change those systems you and your ilk would be up in arms. You will soon be telling us that this will reduce costs when the bureaucracy takes over at 10 times the cost of the insurance providers. Inefficiency will no longer be a concern. Obama said that he did not yet have enough people to put one in each doctor’s office to insure that each doctor was doing the right thing in each situation. How efficient is that going to be? At what age will the cut of any type of surgery take place? THAT WILL BE THE WAY COSTS ARE CONTROLED. All the while the most important thing will be that abortion is covered by the tax payer. The rest of health services will be rationed. Only the richest Americans will be able to get decent health care. Any doctor that is any good will either retire or find some way of getting out of the government controlled plans. There is not one thing that you or anyone can come up with that is remotely positive about this disaster of a bill. How could anyone think that any idea that this Democrat controlled congress puts forth could be anything but a sham? This is the most corrupt group of politicians ever assembled with the President leading as the First Perp. How you love dictators and fascists. -- warren, olathe 2
-- Mary, MI
-- jim k, Austin
Is not the first point in reaching that objective to appreciate the fact that it is that independently rare individual indeed, that is truly sane? -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Sorry, Sillik, but "independently rare individual" is not a measurement of sanity. Neither is being in the majority. Sanity is measured by one's ability to discern reality, which may be rare, but scarcity is not the measure of sanity even though sanity is rarely among the majority. -- E Archer, NYC 2
Mike, Norwalk, my point here is not the identity of sanity, but to identify the fact that at this point sanity is rare, so we are adequately prepared to place it among the majority. I believe my mental health stems from my early identification of the vast majority practicing ill behavior. And a question arrive on your definition, most understand and discern this imperialistic arrangement, "l submit, Mike, Norwalk, you are illogical to be a part of it.". "So what's it's going to be Mike, Norwalk, past or future, tyranny or peace." "In every revolution, there's one man with a vision." -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
Love this one! -- ABBY 1
Sillik, your incoherent word salad does not touch on any sense of palpable reality — at law (science, math, etc.) or otherwise. Truth, peace, liberty, inalienable rights at nature's law are eternally unchanged (the same yesterday, today and forever). Ill behavior includes such enslaving decorum as socialism. Not only has socialism proven to be illogical, tyrannical, destructive and antithetical to humanity, in its many denominational expressions — over, and over, and over again, socialism, as a theocratic mental / physical / religious abnormality defines a form of insanity. -- Mike,, Norwalk
Mike, Norwalk, it's understandable. You just have to take a look into the mirror, mirror. Who is, after all, the most fair, of them all? -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Sillik, 🤪 lololol / hahaha, Your off topic / misdirection word salad does not in any way address the here subject matter. Please describe the "it" as you understand it. Is a mirror, mirror different than just a mirror? You have described yourself as being the most fair of all. If I look into a mirror, mirror, are you saying I will see you? -- Mike,, Norwalk
Mike, Norwalk, well, when you adapt the idea of fairness in the distribution of resources you just may observe some of my essence in the mirror. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Sillik, idea of fairness ? ? ? I have no question that your's and my definitions of fairness are wildly different. Also, please define "distribution of resources" . Do things such as work ethic, desires, abilities or character (see Dr. Martin Luther King) play into your resource distribution equation? How about equality before the law or of opportunity? -- Mike,, Norwalk
Mike, Norwalk, my sanity doesn't make to much of the last post you presented. Fairness is distributing resources in manner where no one has a material resource advantage. Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey, you and I all live in the same type and valued living facility, transport on national transport and all do our chores to maintain it all. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
Sillik, if your sanity is based on your circular word salad, you are of no substance, living in a hallucination of insanity. You didn't define "fairness", "distributing", "resources", "material advantage", or who (some god greater than you) owns what of that which is to be doled out. Your word salad alludes to an elimination of individual sovereignty, personal responsibility, inalienable rights, liberty and nature's law. If you, the sole socialist god on the planet, were given a mound of rare earths in their natural state (material resource), what would you do with it differently than Elon Musk; AND, how is that fair. -- Mike,, Norwalk 1
Sillik, if a new socialist god greater than you were to give you and each person on the planet a material resource, such as a tree, what would you personally do with it to be fair to the rest of humanity? -- Mike,, Norwalk 1
Mike, Norwalk, you are quite obvious an individual not posting for any rational purposes. You are simply searching for what everyone else I meet searches for, mental illness, for you are most definitely what you seek. Time for me to look up some information on Marilyn Monroe, Good by for now. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
Mike, Norwalk, there is a silly internet article that gives Miss Marilyn Monroe an IQ of 165, and Dr Albert Einstein an IQ of 160. This has an interesting child psychology investigative aspect for the notion of IQ has all the elements of a foolish childish video game. Miss Monroe and Dr Einstein, however are nonetheless two of my favorite folks. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Mike, Norwalk, also, sad to say Dr Einstein's 9�10=91 equation still holds in its illustration of "society" focusing on those who achieve's mistakes. It shows that the arrangement situation is one of focusing on mental illness. The mentally healthy focus on mental health. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
How prescient! 15 years ago and nothing has changed — except they followed through with some of their most devious of plans since then. Are we waking up, please? 'Conspiracy Facts' 'Trump' 'the Narrative.' -- E Archer, NYC 1
Just pointing out "it's unfair" is not a solution (if there really should be a solution). I mean, HOW are you going to make fair what is unfair? How do you make the call as to what is fair or not? What is too little? What is too much? Who is to take on the God-like role of authority? This is not a new idea, and everywhere it has been implemented, the civilization burned to the ground. But I'll bite, "HOW?" -- E Archer, NYC 2
Mr Archer, it's not a God like role we can utilize, our desperation is need of an authentic human role of agreement and understanding. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown 1
I would keep it trimmed and away from power lines, call Asphlundh tree company regularly to maintain the process. Both my father and I were employed by Asphlundh, my father an actually tree trimmer, me in a less advanced skilled position, groundsman. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Pardon me, Mr Archer I got mixed up here and called you Mike,, Norwalk. Mr Archer, I have to agree to be all there, reality, is a feature of sanity, but courage is another aspect and there's a hint in the belief that one "must have power," to admit reality. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown
Sorry, Mike,, Norwalk, I was intending to respond to Mr Archer and inadvertently placed your post label in the post. Sorry, again. -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown

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