H. G. Wells Quote

The true strength of rulers and empires lies not in armies or emotions, but in the belief of men that they are inflexibly open and truthful and legal. As soon as a government departs from that standard it ceases to be anything more than 'the gang in possession,' and its days are numbered.

The New and Revised Outline of History: Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind (ed. 1931)