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The President is an elected king, but the fact that he is elected has proved to be of far less significance in the course of political evolution than the fact that he is pragmatically a king. … Kings have often been selected this way in European history, and the Roman Emperor was regularly chosen by election.

— Randolph Bourne The State (1918)

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More quotes by Randolph Bourne

We cannot crusade against war without crusading implicitly against the State.

The State (1918)

War is the health of the State and it is during war that one best understands the nature of that institution.

The State (1918)

Our elders are always optimistic in their views of the present, pessimistic in their views of the future; youth is pessimistic toward the present and gloriously hopeful for the future. And it is this hope which is the lever of progress—one might say, the only lever of progress.

Youth (1912)

Indeed, it is not too much to say that the normal relation of States is war.

The State (1918)

How shall I describe Youth, the time of contradictions and anomalies? The fiercest radicalisms, the most dogged conservatisms, irrepressible gayety, bitter melancholy,—all these moods are equally part of that showery spring-time of life.

Youth (1912)

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Attribution

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