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.

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

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

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

My 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.

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.

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

Every country has the government it deserves.

I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.

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

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

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

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.