Archive

Quotes

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

—George Bernard Shaw, 1944

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

—Paul Valéry, 1943

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

—Horace, c. 8 BC

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

—John Wilkes Booth, 1865

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

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.

—Judge Learned Hand, 1944

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

—Dean Acheson, 1970

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

It 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, 1625

On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

—Michel de Montaigne, 1580

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.

—Che Guevara, 1968

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.

—Tacitus, c. 117