Do not the legislators and their agents form a part of the human race? Do they consider that they are composed of different materials from the rest o… - Frédéric Bastiat

Whatever God does, is well done; do not pretend to know more than He.

Men, therefore, are nothing but raw material. It is not for them to will their own improvement. They are not capable of it; according to Saint Just, it is only the legislator who is.

Chateaubriand said of history: There are two consequences in history: one immediate and instantaneously recognized; the other distant and unperceived at first. These consequences often contradict each other; the former come from our short-run wisdom, the latter from long-run wisdom.