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… is from page 75 of Harry Kurz’s 1975 English translation of Etienne de la Boétie [2]’s remarkably insightful 1552-1553 tract, The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude [3]:
[I]t has always happened that tyrants, in order to strengthen their power, have made every effort to train their people not only in obedience and servility toward themselves, but also in adoration.
DBx: Lamentable but undeniable.
It’s too bad that so many people, believing the state to possess the power to work miracles, regard their favorite politicians as high priests invested not merely with the power to work these miracles, but also with the god-like benevolence to use such power wisely and for the greater good.