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

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.

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

The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.

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

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

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

I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.