I work for a government I despise for ends I think criminal.

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

I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.

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

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

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

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

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.

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

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