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Selfishness and demagoguery take advantage of liberty. The selfish hand constantly seeks to control government, and every increase of governmental power, even to meet just needs, furnishes opportunity for abuse and stimulates the effort to bend it to improper uses.

— Charles Evans Hughes Conditions of Progress in Democratic Government (1909)

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More quotes by Charles Evans Hughes

While democracy must have its organizations and controls, its vital breath is individual liberty.

Our institutions were not devised to bring about uniformity of opinion; if they had we might well abandon hope.

No greater mistake can be made than to think that our institutions are fixed or may not be changed for the worse.

Conditions of Progress in Democratic Government (1909)

When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.

The peril of this Nation is not in any foreign foe! We, the people, are its power, its peril, and its hope!

Conditions of Progress in Democratic Government (1909)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Charles Evans Hughes (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.