An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.
—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865Quotes
Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCWhy 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, 1787A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.
—Shimon Peres, 1995O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCYou campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
—Mario Cuomo, 1985To 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 BCThe best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziI’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.
—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
—Martin Luther King Jr., c. 1967