The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.

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

On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

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.

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

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

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