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Full Idea
It is a mistake to suppose that the majority is necessarily right. On every new question the majority is always wrong at first.
Gist of Idea
On every new question the majority is always wrong at first
Source
Bertrand Russell (Political Ideals [1917], 3)
Book Ref
Russell,Bertrand: 'Political Ideals' [Spokesman 2007], p.52
A Reaction
Sounds like bitter experience. This is a good argument for taking time over decisions, and (topical) for a second referendum some time after the first one (if you must have a referendum).
| 22575 | Ultimate democracy is tyranny [Aristotle] |
| 5895 | If one despises illiterate mechanics individually, they are not worth more collectively [Cicero] |
| 13557 | Unfortunately the majority do not tend to favour what is best [Seneca] |
| 19828 | Democracy leads to internal strife, as people struggle to maintain or change ways of ruling [Rousseau] |
| 19835 | When ministers change the state changes, because they always reverse policies [Rousseau] |
| 22394 | Democracy diminishes mankind, making them mediocre and lowering their value [Nietzsche] |
| 18331 | Democracy is organisational power in decline [Nietzsche] |
| 23166 | In democracy we are more aware of being governed than of our tiny share in government [Russell] |
| 23169 | Democratic institutions become impossible in a fanatical democracy [Russell] |
| 21527 | On every new question the majority is always wrong at first [Russell] |
| 21526 | Unfortunately ordinary voters can't detect insincerity [Russell] |
| 23842 | Party politics in a democracy can't avoid an anti-democratic party [Weil] |
| 7594 | Democrats are committed to a belief and to its opposite, if the majority prefer the latter [Scruton] |