I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796Quotes
All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCA riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.
—Martin Luther King Jr., c. 1967I am no courtesan, nor moderator, nor tribune, nor defender of the people: I am myself the people.
—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.
—John Nance Garner, c. 1967O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCThe spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCIt 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. 1515My 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. 1770Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.
—Jeremy Bentham, c. 1832