Political writers argue in regard to the love of liberty with the same
philosophy that philosophers do in regard to the state of nature; by the
things they see they judge of things very different which they have
never seen, and they attribute to men a natural inclination to slavery,
on account of the patience with which the slaves within their notice
carry the yoke; not reflecting that it is with liberty as with innocence
and virtue, the value of which is not known but by those who possess
them, though the relish for them is lost with the things themselves. I
know the charms of your country, said Brasidas to a satrap who was
comparing the life of the Spartans with that of the Persepolites; but
you can not know the pleasures of mine.
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