There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863Quotes
Let him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.
—Francis Bacon, 1625The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.
—Dean Acheson, 1970I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.
—George Borrow, 1843No 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, 1958Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCTo 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 BCPeople revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.
—Robert Byrd, 2005Written 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 BCAn appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.
—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865