I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.

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

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

I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

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.

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.

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

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