Dr Warwick Raverty
Did the Roman orator foretell the career of Paul Lennon in Tasmania 2000 years before he was born?
Cicero said: A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murder is less to fear. Cicero Marcus Tullius, 106 – 43 BC
Or are Tasmanians merely failing to learn the lessons of history? A few more wise words to ponder in this time of widespread dissatisfaction and concern:
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws. Tacitus
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers Aristotle
The art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of the citizens to give to the other. Voltaire
A fool is very dangerous when in power. Denis Fonvizin
Democracy is not something you believe in or a place to hang your hat, but it’s something you do. You participate. If you stop doing it, democracy crumbles. Abbie Hoffman
A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular. Adlai Stevenson
Freedom is when the people can speak, democracy is when the government listens. Alastair Farrugia
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. Alice Walker
Those wanting to improve democracy in their countries should not wait for permission. Bulent Ecevit
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. Edward Abbey
A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves. Henry de Jouvenel
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. Elie Wiesel
Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want rain without thunder and lightning. Frederick Douglass
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man. George Bernard Shaw
The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open. Gunther Grass
If…the machine of government…is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law. Henry David Thoreau
In a democracy dissent is an act of faith. Like medicine, the test of its value is not in its taste, but in its effects. J. W. Fulbright
Those believing they have not voted are mistaken, for their indifference affects all our futures. M.A. Denck
It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do. Moliere
Washing one’s hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. Paulo Freire
There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship. Ralph Nader
When a nation’s government becomes more fearful of its citizens’ rights than protective of them, that nation’s future is only despotism and extinction. Anon
Don’t be afraid to admit defeat. Learn from defeat. Do over again more thoroughly, more carefully, and more systematically what you have done badly. V. I. Lenin
Philosophers should consider the fact that the greatest happiness principle can easily be made an excuse for a benevolent dictatorship. We should replace it by a more modest and more realistic principle – the principle that the fight against avoidable misery should be a recognized aim of public policy, while the increase of happiness should be left, in the main, to private initiative. Karl Popper
Warwick Raverty
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