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

The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.

Politics is the art of the possible.

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

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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