O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCQuotes
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. 1515Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930My 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. 1770A real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.
—David Foster Wallace, 2000Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCIn politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1830