A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944Quotes
Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.
—Arthur Miller, 2001You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCSic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.
—John Wilkes Booth, 1865Every communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
—Mao Zedong, 1938There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziNatural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.
—Jeremy Bentham, c. 1832It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.
—Francis Bacon, 1625O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCLet him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967