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

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

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

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

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

I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.

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

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.

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.

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.

There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.