All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933Quotes
I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 1830Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
—Henrik Ibsen, 1882The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.
—Paul Valéry, 1943Whether 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, 2001An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.
—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863