Archive

Quotes

An appeal to the reason of the people has never been known to fail in the long run.

—James Russell Lowell, c. 1865

I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

—Catherine the Great, c. 1796

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

—Martin Luther King Jr., c. 1967

All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.

—Al Smith, 1933

Politics is the art of the possible.

—Otto von Bismarck, 1867

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

—Ambrose Bierce, 1906

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

—Immanuel Kant, 1784

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

—Anthony Trollope, 1862

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

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.

—Arthur Miller, 2001

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

—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

—Thomas Jefferson, 1787

The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.

—Anthony Burgess, 1972