quote · Legacy record
I think maybe the classic formulation was by David Hume in "Of the First Principles of Government," where he pointed out that "Force is always on the side of the governed." Whether it's a military society, a partially free society, or what we - not he - would call a totalitarian state, it's the governed who have the power. And the rulers have to find ways to keep them from using their power. Force has its limits, so they have to use persuasion. They have to somehow find ways to convince people to accept authority. If they aren't able to do that, the whole thing is going to collapse.
I think maybe the classic formulation was by David Hume in "Of the First Principles of Government," where he pointed out that "Force is always on the side of the governed." Whether it's a military society, a partially free society, or what we - not he - would call a totalitarian state, it's the governed who have the power. And the rulers have to find ways to keep them from using their power. Force has its limits, so they have to use persuasion. They have to somehow find ways to convince people to accept authority. If they aren't able to do that, the whole thing is going to collapse.
Approximate author period: c. 1928 AD · modern
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- Author or tradition
- Noam Chomsky
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
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- Approximate author period: c. 1928 AD · modern
Approximate author-period anchor from documented birth year 1928; activity date not established; Wikidata Q9049, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9049 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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Supplied reference C; CSV row 131674; supplied attribution, independently unverified
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