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Quotes

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

—John Wilkes Booth, 1865

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

—Mao Zedong, 1938

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.

—Yoshida Kenko, c. 1330

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850

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

—Dean Acheson, 1970

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

—H. Rap Brown, 1967

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.

—Alexander Hamilton, 1787

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

—Che Guevara, 1968

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1830

Envy is the basis of democracy.

—Bertrand Russell, 1930

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

—Tacitus, c. 117

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

—Judge Learned Hand, 1944

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

—Aristophanes, c. 424 BC