The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

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

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

Politics is the art of the possible.

Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.

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.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

If 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.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.