People :
Author : Leo Tolstoy
: A Letter to Russian Liberals
Text :
It may be very desirable and useful to get an eight-hours' day legalized by Parliament, or to get a Liberal program for school libraries sanctioned through your Committee ; but if as a means to this end a Member of Parliament must publicly lift up his hand and lie, like when taking an oath, by expressing in words respect for what he does not respect; or (in our own case) if, in order to pass programs however Liberal, it is necessary to take part in public worship, to be sworn, to wear a uniform, to write mendacious and flattering petitions, and to make speeches of a similar character, etc., etc. -then, by doing these things and foregoing our dignity as men, we lose much more than we gain, and by trying to reach one definite aim, (which very often is not reached) we deprive ourselves of the possibility of reaching other aims which are of supreme importance. Only people who have something which they will on no account and under no circumstances yield can resist a Government and curb it. To have power to resist, you must stand on firm ground.
Chronology :
April 09, 2020 : 14 -- Added.
June 04, 2022 : 14 -- Updated.
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