The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1908Quotes
No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
—Magna Carta, 1215To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.
—Quintus Fabius Maximus, c. 203 BCI’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.
—Dean Acheson, 1970Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.
—Shimon Peres, 1995If 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. 1330I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967My 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. 1770The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziI work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787The 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.
—H.L. Mencken, 1921