SOME WILL REMIND US of the saying “while the Romans deliberate, Saguntum is lost.” On the other hand, when the few decide everything, simply on the basis of their own affects, freedom and the common good are lost. For human wits are too sluggish to penetrate everything right away. But by asking advice, listening, and arguing, they’re sharpened. When people try all means, in the end they find ways to the things they want which everyone approves, and no one had ever thought of before.
—SPINOZA, POLITICAL TREATISE, IX, 14