The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1908Quotes
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, 1787I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.
—Jeremy Bentham, c. 1832No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
—Magna Carta, 1215The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
—H.L. Mencken, 1921Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.
—Quintus Fabius Maximus, c. 203 BCYou have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCThe U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.
—John Wilkes Booth, 1865