A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.
—George Bernard Shaw, 1944Quotes
I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.
—George Borrow, 1843You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.
—Mario Cuomo, 1985I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.
—John Maynard Keynes, 1917There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.
—Quintus Fabius Maximus, c. 203 BCPolitics is the art of the possible.
—Otto von Bismarck, 1867My 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. 1770Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCIf 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. 1330The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968