Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

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

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

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

Politics is the art of the possible.

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

Television has made dictatorship impossible, but democracy unbearable.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

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

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.