Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
Woodrow WilsonRead
The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of the bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a critique of how powerful interests can undermine democracy.
Woodrow Wilson's quote highlights the concern that government, initially meant to serve the populace, has been overtaken by influential corporations and their leaders. This 'invisible empire' suggests that true power resides not with elected representatives, but with elite groups that manipulate democratic processes to serve their own interests, thus endangering the principles of democracy.
Themes
GovernmentDemocracyPowerSpecial InterestsPolitics
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing the influence of corporations on legislation.
More from Woodrow Wilson
All quotes →Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.
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The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the concentration of power, we are resisting the processes of death, because concentration of power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties.
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Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
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