He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.
—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850Quotes
My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.
—Frederick the Great, c. 1770You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
—Mario Cuomo, 1985There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906No 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, 1958Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.
—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1830It 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, 1625I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
—Tacitus, c. 117