Archive

Quotes

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

—Tacitus, c. 117

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.

—Hannah Arendt, 1958

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

—G.K. Chesterton, 1908

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

—Lord Acton, 1887

Politics is the art of the possible.

—Otto von Bismarck, 1867

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.

—Anacharsis, c. 550 BC

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

A real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.

—David Foster Wallace, 2000

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

—Michel de Montaigne, 1580

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

—Aristophanes, c. 424 BC

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

—Che Guevara, 1968

Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

—Immanuel Kant, 1784