Archive

Quotes

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

—Robert Byrd, 2005

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

—Paul Valéry, 1943

There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.

—Walter Bagehot, 1863

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.

—Charles de Gaulle, 1963

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

—Dean Acheson, 1970

The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.

—John Nance Garner, c. 1967

O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.

—Horace, c. 8 BC

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1830

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.

—Yoshida Kenko, c. 1330

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

—Anthony Trollope, 1862

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

—Anacharsis, c. 550 BC

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

—Henrik Ibsen, 1882

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

—Aristophanes, c. 424 BC