It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.
—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1515Quotes
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, 2001You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCThe more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
—Tacitus, c. 117Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
—E.B. White, 1944I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.
—George Borrow, 1843The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.
—John Nance Garner, c. 1967A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
—Martin Luther King Jr., c. 1967You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
—Henrik Ibsen, 1882I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990