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Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition, that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story, who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

Approximate author period: c. 1829 AD · industrial

Meaning not yet available

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Attribution & collection notes
Author or tradition
Thomas B. Macaulay
Attribution: attributed
Country attributed
Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.
Historical period
Approximate author period: c. 1829 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1800–1859)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken.
Recorded source
Many Thoughts of Many Minds (1896) (1896 AD)

Freedom · anthology attribution: Macaulay

A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.