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Quotes

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

—Al Smith, 1933

Politics is the art of the possible.

—Otto von Bismarck, 1867

No 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, 1215

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

—H. Rap Brown, 1967

On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

—Michel de Montaigne, 1580

Every communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

—Mao Zedong, 1938

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

—John Wilkes Booth, 1865

Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.

—Arthur Miller, 2001

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

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

—Horace, c. 8 BC

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.

—Yoshida Kenko, c. 1330

My people and I have come to an agreement that satisfies us both. They are to say what they please, and I am to do what I please.

—Frederick the Great, c. 1770

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

—Henrik Ibsen, 1882