There is nothing so bad but it can masquerade as moral. Walter Lippmann More Quotes by Walter Lippmann More Quotes From Walter Lippmann The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any other sensible human being, always learns more from his opposition than from his fervent supporters. Walter Lippmann glowinglearningpolitics A regime, an established order, is rarely overthrown by a revolutionary movement; usually a regime collapses of its own weakness and corruption and then a revolutionary movement enters among the ruins and takes over the powers that have become vacant. Walter Lippmann weaknessmovementorder Robinson Crusoe, the self-sufficient man, could not have lived in New York city. Walter Lippmann new-yorkselfmen For in the absence of debate unrestricted utterance leads to the degradation of opinion. By a kind of Greshams law the more rational is overcome by the less rational, and the opinions that will prevail will be those which are held most ardently by those with the most passionate will. For that reason the freedom to speak can never be maintained merely by objecting to interference with the liberty of the press, of printing, of broadcasting, of the screen. It can be maintained only by promoting debate. Walter Lippmann libertyovercominglaw A rational man acting in the real world may be defined as one who decides where he will strike a balance between what he desires and what can be done. Walter Lippmann balancerealmen Corrupt, stupid grasping functionaries will make at least as big a muddle of socialism as stupid, selfish and acquisitive employers can make of capitalism. Walter Lippmann socialismselfishstupid While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes that right important. Walter Lippmann importantlisteningmay When distant and unfamiliar and complex things are communicated to great masses of people, the truth suffers a considerable and often a radical distortion. The complex is made over into the simple, the hypothetical into the dogmatic, and the relative into an absolute. Walter Lippmann honestysimpletruth The disesteem into which moralists have fallen is due at bottom to their failure to see that in an age like this one the function of the moralist is not to exhort men to be good but to elucidate what the good is. The problem of sanctions is secondary. Walter Lippmann problemagemen We are all captives of the picture in our head - our belief that the world we have experienced is the world that really exists. Walter Lippmann captivesbeliefworld When a man and woman are successfully in love, their whole activity is energized and victorious. They walk better, their digestion improves, they think more clearly, their secret worries drop away, the world is fresh and interesting, and they can do more than they dreamed that they could do. In love of this kind sexual intimacy is not the dead end of desire as it is in romantic or promiscuous love, but periodic affirmation of the inward delight of desire pervading an active life. Walter Lippmann meninterestingthinking The study of error is not only in the highest degree prophylactic, but it serves as a stimulating introduction to the study of truth. Walter Lippmann degreeserrorsmistake We must remember that in time of war what is said on the enemy's side of the front is always propaganda and what is said on our side of the front is truth and righteousness, the cause of humanity and a crusade for peace. Walter Lippmann cynicalhumanitywar Unless democracy is to commit suicide by consenting to its own destruction, it will have to find some formidable answer to those who come to it saying: I demand from you in the name of your principles the rights which I shall deny to you later in the name of my principles. Walter Lippmann suiciderightsnames Brains, you know, are suspect in the Republican Party. Walter Lippmann partyhumorousfunny People who are tremendously concerned about their identification, their individuality, their self-expression, or their sense of humor, always seem to be missing the very things they pursue. Walter Lippmann expressionselfpeople Only the very rarest of princes can endure even a little criticism, and few of them can put up with even a pause in the adulation. Walter Lippmann endurecriticismlittles Leaders are the custodians of a nation's ideals, of the beliefs it cherishes, of its permanent hopes, of the faith which makes a nation out of a mere aggregation of individuals. Walter Lippmann custodiansleaderbelief The Bill of Rights does not come from the people and is not subject to change by majorities. It comes from the nature of things. It declares the inalienable rights of man not only against all government but also against the people collectively. Walter Lippmann rightsmenpeople The radical novelty of modern science lies precisely in the rejection of the belief... that the forces which move the stars and atoms are contingent upon the preferences of the human heart. Walter Lippmann starslyingmoving
