All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933Quotes
The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.
—John Nance Garner, c. 1967Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.
—John Wilkes Booth, 1865The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence to his subjects.
—LaoziEvery communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
—Mao Zedong, 1938The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
—Henrik Ibsen, 1882You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
—Mario Cuomo, 1985I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honor or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811