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The Article Government: Reprinted from the Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica

Book by James Mill · 3 quotes · Men, Abundance, Authority

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The Article Government: Reprinted from the Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica Quotes

“If nature had produced spontaneously all the objects which we desire, and in sufficient abundance for the desires of all, there would have been no source of dispute or of injury among men; nor would any man have possessed the means of ever acquiring authority over another.”

“Whenever the powers of government are placed in any hands other than those of the community, whether those of one man, of a few, or of several, those principles of human nature which imply that government is at all necessary, imply that those persons will make use of them to defeat the very end for which government exists.”