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There are no conventions, no tabus, no gods, no priests, princes, fathers, or revelations which they must accept. ... The prison door is wide open. They stagger out into trackless space under a blinding sun.

— Walter Lippmann A Preface to Morals (1929)

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More quotes by Walter Lippmann

You cannot endow even the best machine with initiative; the jolliest steam-roller will not plant flowers.

A Preface to Politics (1913)

Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.

The Stakes of Diplomacy (1915)

In a free society the state does not administer the affairs of men. It administers justice among men who conduct their own affairs.

The Good Society (1937)

The self-evident truth which makes men invincible is that inalienably they are inviolate persons.

The Good Society (1937)

It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf.

A Preface to Morals (1929)

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