Politics is the art of the possible.

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

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

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

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.

Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.

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

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

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.

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

No human life, not even the life of a hermit, is possible without a world which directly or indirectly testifies to the presence of other human beings.

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

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