Politics is the art of the possible.

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

I am invariably of the politics of the people at whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep.

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

The 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.

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

It is a certain sign of a wise government and proceeding, when it can hold men’s hearts by hopes, when it cannot by satisfaction.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

If 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.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.