To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.

No human life, not even the life of a hermit, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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

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.

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

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

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

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