“But, after all, what can an unfortunate National Assembly do? Consider only this, that there are Twelve Hundred miscellaneous individuals; not a unit of whom but has his own thinking-apparatus, his own speaking-apparatus! In every unit of them is some belief and wish, and different for each, both that France should be regenerated, and also that he individually should do it. Twelve Hundred separate Forces, yoked miscellaneously to any objects, miscellaneously to all sides of it; and bid pull for life!”
- Thomas Carlyle [The French Revolution, I.VI.I]
Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my friend Swann Marcus, who made me aware of this issue, and saw most of the best aspects. Much of this is fleshing out a couple of his short threads [which I can’t embed, of course.]
