Archive

Quotes

Out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing was ever made.

—Immanuel Kant, 1784

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

—Judge Learned Hand, 1944

Let him who desires peace prepare for war.

—Vegetius, c. 385

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.

—Niccolò Machiavelli, c. 1515

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

—Walter Bagehot, 1863

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

—Herodotus, c. 425 BC

Envy is the basis of democracy.

—Bertrand Russell, 1930

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

—Dean Acheson, 1970

To 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 BC

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

—Lord Acton, 1887

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

—Henrik Ibsen, 1882

O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.

—Horace, c. 8 BC

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

—Tacitus, c. 117