The law of all modern states takes account of associations, whose members, in theory, pursue the common end with equal zeal. The experience of all associations proves, however, that this is not the case, and that a lively, constant and vigorous awareness of the end is found only in a minority of the associates; an association is really rather like a comet–a large tail of docile followers dragged along by a small dynamic head. Bertrand De Jouvenel
About This Quote

In the case of a comet, the head is a small part that glows brightly and is closely associated with a large tail. The comet is a large mass of gas and ice that orbits the Sun. The head is a small part with a high surface temperature that gets very hot as it approaches the Sun. Its tail is a long thin cloud of ice and dust that follows behind as the comet moves through space. The tail consists of particles from the comet's nucleus, which are heated up by sunlight.

Source: Sovereignty

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  1. The entire stock of relationships which suited in war–militiae–was regarded as inadmissible and improper in peace–domi. We have the measure of how right the Romans were in this respect in the experience of the intellectual and moral impoverishment brought about by total mobilisation.
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  5. It is as futile and dangerous to aim at making of society one large family, as sentimental socialism seeks to do, as to aim at making of it one large team, as positivist socialism seeks to do.
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