Antoine De Saint-Exupery Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"True, it is evil that a single man should crush the herd,
but see not there the worse form of slavery,
which is when the herd crushes out the man."

by:	Antoine De Saint-Exupery (1900-1944) French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist, and pioneering aviator
Source:	Citadelle, 1948
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Categories:	Collectivist, Democracy, Despotism, Individual Rights, Individualism, Power, Slavery
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Reader comments about this quote:

-- Logan, Memphis, TN
Its a double negative... -- Robert, Sarasota
Why do socialists bother to visit Liberty websites? -- Joe, Rochester, MI
astute in the freeman's obvious -- Mike, Norwalk 3
a worthless observation when every one can see what they want to see in the quote... and use it as justification for their own crushing of some group or one. -- Anonymous, Reston, VA US 1
Banal -- Terry Berg, Occidental, CA
Banal? Yes, there is an easily predictable flow to this quote; however, that does not make it any less true. When a man seeks to overthrow the liberty and freedom of the masses, we call him a "terrorist," "criminal," or "tyrant." But in today's society, in our non-Republic "Socialist Democracy," the majority has no qualms with squashing the minority. Proponents of Democracy will argue that the reason the law is enforced is to protect the minority from the onslaught of the majority. Be this as it may, in a democracy, how did the law come to be? By the majority, of course. This being the case, there are no recognized or perceived absolute laws or rights-- these things are given to men by the majority, and just as easily as these rights and these have been given, they can be taken away! As such, all laws, in a democracy, are de facto. Democracy is the Achilles’ heel of a Republic—when the individual is no longer protected by human or unalienable rights and laws, but by the promises of the majority, freedom, liberty, and self-protection is quickly lost. -- Logan, Memphis, TN 5
The herd is of no benefit if it does not protect the rights of the individuals of which it is comprised -- indeed at that point, it is but a mob. -- E Archer, NYC 3
Indeed. At least if one man crushes the herd, the herd can fight back. How is one man supposed to fight a tyrannical herd? -- Anonymous 1
-- Mike, Pleasant Hill
-- Jim k, Austin
Only two sharply-defined positions ? Hate to break it to you, but there are more than two sides to this coin ! -- Bobble, No. Ferrisburgh, VT 1
Walking At Liberty in a sea of slaves, takes quite a bit of commonsense and faith. Fear destroys many opportunities for the individual. -- Ronw13, Oregon 1
-- jim k, Austin

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