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Quote#Politics & Power

That power should be exercised over any portion of mankind without…

Quote byJohn Stuart Mill · 1806–1873

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform (1859), p. 24.

English (original)

That power should be exercised over any portion of mankind without any obligation of consulting them, is only tolerable while they are in an infantine, or a semi-barbarous state. In any civilized condition, power ought never to be exempt from the necessity of appealing to the reason, and recommending itself by motives which justify it to the conscience and feelings, of the governed.

— John Stuart Mill

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