Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.
—Charles de Gaulle, 1963Quotes
Every communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
—Mao Zedong, 1938Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.
—Alexander Hamilton, 1787The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCThe Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967It 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.
—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1515The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziPower tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.
—Shimon Peres, 1995