When a fixed code of laws, which must be observed to the letter, leaves no further care to the judge than to examine the acts of citizens and to decide whether or not they conform to the law as written; then the standard of the just or the unjust, which is to be the norm of conduct for the ignorant as well as for the philosophic citizen, is not a matter of controversy but of fact; then only are citizens not subject to the petty tyrannies of the many which are the more cruel as the distance between the oppressed and the oppressor is less, and which are far more fatal than those of a single man, for the despotism of many can only be corrected by the despotism of one; the cruelty of a single despot is proportioned, not to his might, but to the obstacles he encounters. Cesare Beccaria
About This Quote

Tocqueville describes herein the great difference between a democracy and a dictatorship. He says that in the former, the citizens are free to do what they like, while in the latter, laws must be obeyed in their entirety; this leads to tyranny. The despot is only interested in doing what he wants to do at any given moment. The citizens of democracies are not allowed to act like despots, which leads to an environment of freedom.

Source: On Crimes And Punishments And Other Writings

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