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

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.

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

I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

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

Envy is the basis of democracy.

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

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

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

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

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.