Political Quotes

Harold J. Laski: No body of civil servants, however liberal-minded they may be, ought to be free both to make the law and to devise the…

On the record
No body of civil servants, however liberal-minded they may be, ought to be free both to make the law and to devise the procedure by which its legality may be tested; and that, be it remembered, without a power of appeal from their decision.
Said by
Harold J. Laski

Editor's note · Context

This quote highlights the risks of civil servants having unchecked power over law-making and legality.

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From no accusation were its statesmen more anxious to be free than from that of a belief in democratic government.

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But we cannot understand the eighteenth century, or its theories, unless we realize that its temper was still dominantly aristocratic.

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The case for the view that freedom of thought and speech is a good in itself is fairly easy to make.

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There are realms of conduct within which, to be free, I must be permitted to act as I please; to be denied self-expression there, is to be denied freedom.

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