No 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.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

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

The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

It is impossible to tell which of the two dispositions we find in men is more harmful in a republic, that which seeks to maintain an established position or that which has none but seeks to acquire it.

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.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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

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

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.