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 BCQuotes
You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCThe Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
—Henrik Ibsen, 1882The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziThere is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.
—Herodotus, c. 425 BCNo 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, 1958I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.
—Magna Carta, 1215The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
—Thomas Jefferson, 1787