On the record
The worst judge, they say, is a deaf judge; the most dull Government is a free Government on matters its ruling classes will not hear.
Said by
Walter Bagehot
Source
gutenberg.orgWalter Bagehot: “The worst judge, they say, is a deaf judge; the most dull Government is a free Government on matters its ruling classes…”
Editor's note · Context
Bagehot warns that a government that ignores dissenting opinions is akin to a deaf judge, lacking in discernment.
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More from Walter Bagehot
At last it strikes you that they grew up, house by house, on the devious tracks of the old green lanes; and if you follow on to the existing fields, you may often find the change half complete.
Our law very often reminds one of those outskirts of cities where you cannot for a long time tell how the streets come to wind about in so capricious and serpent-like a manner.
Political philosophy is still more imperfect; it has been framed from observations taken upon regular specimens of politics and States; as to these its teaching is most valuable.
The lessons are good where its primitive assumptions hold, but may be false where those assumptions fail.
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