Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811Quotes
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, 2001O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCThe Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
—Mario Cuomo, 1985No 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, 1958Written 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 BCThe best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziAll the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796