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

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.

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

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

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.

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

The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.

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

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

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

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

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