Wit & Attitude Quote by Will Durant

Democracy flatters itself with the proverb that deception has an expiration date: you cant fool all the people all the time. Durant needles that comfort. His tweak is small but surgical: political power doesnt require universal belief, only a governing majority of the persuadable, the distracted, or the resigned. The line works because it turns a moral lesson into a logistical one. Truth is not a guaranteed antidote; it is a resource that competes with appetite, fear, and tribal loyalty.

As a historian, Durant is writing with the long view of empires and mass publics, not the hot take of a partisan brawl. The subtext is that modern states are machines run on scale: elections, propaganda, national myths, and media ecosystems. In that environment, the marginal voter matters more than the enlightened citizen. Rule is secured not by persuading everyone, but by shaping enough perceptions to make opposition fragmented, fatigued, or illegible.

There is also a cold warning about the asymmetry between truth and narrative. Truth is often slow, complicated, and costly to absorb; political lies can be cheap, sticky, and emotionally ergonomic. Durant isnt excusing the con artist; he is indicting the audience conditions that make the con profitable: inequality that breeds dependence, institutions that reward spectacle, and civic education too thin to withstand manipulation.

The historical context matters: Durant lived through two world wars and the rise of mass propaganda. His point is less cynical than prophylactic. A large country can be ruled by partial delusion because size doesnt immunize a public; it simply multiplies the number of people a lie can reach before reality catches up.