Political Courage

The study of politics, aspiring to be a science, cannot explain those moments when the universe wobbles and shifts in its course because imagination and daring have taken over. I am not referring to the huge disruptions of revolutions and coups but to deeds of political courage in stable political systems, whose operations look as if they might be reducible to a science. I collect these minor miracles, treasure them indeed, to ward off the bleakness of regularity. It is an occupational hobby because my trade is history, which is a continuous defiance of social science.

There are deeds of political courage that fizz and burn and have no lasting effect - or only a delayed effect. I leave these to other collectors; my collection is made up of deeds performed by those in power and which have a lasting consequence. This is political courage allied to statecraft and not to defiance, prophecy and martyrdom.