If possessing a higher degree of intelligence does not entitle one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can it entitle humans to exploit non-humans?
Peter SingerRead
The beneficial effect of state intervention, especially in the form of legislation, is direct, immediate, and so to speak, visible, while its evil effects are gradual and indirect and lay out of sight ... Hence the majority of mankind must almost of necessity look with undue favor upon governmental intervention.
Interpretation
What this quote means
State intervention in society has clear immediate benefits, but its negative consequences are often subtle and less visible.
The quote by A. V. Dicey reflects on how the effects of governmental intervention can create a bias in favor of such measures. While the positive impacts are readily observable and can be felt immediately, the contrary effects—often negative—tend to be slow-moving and obscure, leading people to overlook the potential drawbacks of increased government involvement in various societal aspects.
Themes
State InterventionGovernmentLegislationBenefitsImpactSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about healthcare reforms, this quote could illustrate the tension between immediate benefits and long-term consequences.
Similar quotes
True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy.
William ShakespeareRead
The women are, of course, the biggest single group of oppressed people in the world and, if we are to believe the Book of Genesis, the very oldest.
Chinua AchebeRead
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.
W. E. B. Du BoisRead
By turning our culture over to the spectacle of child stars and their growing pains, we simply wind up taking their childishness seriously and ensuring that they don't grow up at all. And neither do we.
Tom JunodRead
If eternity had a season, it would be midsummer. Autumn, winter, spring are all change and passage, but at the height of summer the year stands poised. It's only a passing moment, but even as it passes the heart knows it cannot change.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead