No human life, not even the life of a hermit, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.
—Hannah Arendt, 1958Quotes
There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.
—George Borrow, 1843Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.
—Charles de Gaulle, 1963The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.
—Paul Valéry, 1943Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziThe poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1908I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796