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.

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

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

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

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

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

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

Every communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

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

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