ABSTRACT
In every country which is ruled more or less as countries should be ruled, that is, in every country which does not lie under the boot of an absolute tyrant, statesmen cannot act without making public explanations of their actions from time to time. All political action is based on some implicit view of what is better and what is worse. At the crudest level, this amounts to no more than the desire to have more without regard to the cost or consequences for others. Even the avid supporters of statesmen cannot truly give them support under this cloud, for to support a statesman means to approve of him as statesman and, if one believes that all statesmanship is merely a cover, there is no such thing as excellent statesmanship, or better or worse statesmanship. All political thought of a high order is hard to grasp precisely because it is of a high order.
