Systems are to be appreciated by their general effects, and not by particular exceptions. James Fenimore Cooper More Quotes by James Fenimore Cooper More Quotes From James Fenimore Cooper All sacrifices of common sense, and all recourse to plausible political combinations, whether of individuals or of men, are uniformly made at the expense of the majority. James Fenimore Cooper sense common-sense political men Candor is a proof of both a just frame of mind, and of a good tone of breeding. It is a quality that belongs equally to the honest man and to the gentleman. James Fenimore Cooper good man quality mind The common faults of American language are an ambition of effect, a want of simplicity, and a turgid abuse of terms. James Fenimore Cooper simplicity language ambition want The very existence of government at all, infers inequality. The citizen who is preferred to office becomes the superior to those who are not, so long as he is the repository of power, and the child inherits the wealth of the parent as a controlling law of society. James Fenimore Cooper society government power long Ignorance and superstition ever bear a close and mathematical relation to each other. James Fenimore Cooper superstition bear close ignorance They who have reasoned ignorantly, or who have aimed at effecting their personal ends by flattering the popular feeling, have boldly affirmed that 'one man is as good as another;' a maxim that is true in neither nature, revealed morals, nor political theory. James Fenimore Cooper feeling good man nature No civilized society can long exist, with an active power in its bosom that is stronger than the law. James Fenimore Cooper society power law long The affairs of life embrace a multitude of interests, and he who reasons in any one of them, without consulting the rest, is a visionary unsuited to control the business of the world. James Fenimore Cooper rest business life world The disposition of all power is to abuses, nor does it at all mend the matter that its possessors are a majority. James Fenimore Cooper does majority power matter
