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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/7/2009 Posts: 66,782 Neurons: 199,524 Location: Inside Farlex computers
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States, as great engines, move slowly. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 3/26/2013 Posts: 4,770 Neurons: 592,035 Location: Minsk, Minskaya Voblasts', Belarus
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Yeah. Let it be slow, but not slower than that… Right?
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 5/1/2017 Posts: 7,998 Neurons: 4,220,418 Location: Casablanca, Grand Casablanca, Morocco
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Is it still valid today?
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 2/4/2014 Posts: 12,806 Neurons: 13,877,518 Location: Bogotá, Bogota D.C., Colombia
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Context from: THE Advancement OF Learning.THE SECOND BOOK. To the King.XXIII. (1) Civil knowledge is conversant about a subject which of all others is most immersed in matter, and hardliest reduced to axiom. Nevertheless, as Cato the Censor said, “That the Romans were like sheep, for that a man were better drive a flock of them, than one of them; for in a flock, if you could get but some few go right, the rest would follow:” so in that respect moral philosophy is more difficile than policy. Again, moral philosophy propoundeth to itself the framing of internal goodness; but civil knowledge requireth only an external goodness; for that as to society sufficeth. And therefore it cometh oft to pass that there be evil times in good governments: for so we find in the Holy story, when the kings were good, yet it is added, Sed adhuc poulus non direxerat cor suum ad Dominum Deum patrum suorum. Again, states, as great engines, move slowly, and are not so soon put out of frame: for as in Egypt the seven good years sustained the seven bad, so governments for a time well grounded do bear out errors following; but the resolution of particular persons is more suddenly subverted. These respects do somewhat qualify the extreme difficulty of civil knowledge. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5500/5500-h/5500-h.htm
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 11/1/2020 Posts: 581 Neurons: 524,525 Location: Roma, Latium, Italy
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Moving slowly in the right direction is much better than rushing toward failure and making mistakes.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Joined: 9/19/2011 Posts: 20,228 Neurons: 101,581
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Too often, the problem is that states move slowly in a bad direction, and that isn't realized by the populace until it is too late. History is full of examples.
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