I say violence is necessary. It is as American as cherry pie.
—H. Rap Brown, 1967Quotes
The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure it is right.
—Judge Learned Hand, 1944The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
—G.K. Chesterton, 1908Every country has the government it deserves.
—Joseph de Maistre, 1811What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it.
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 1830The 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.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.
—Laozi, c. 500 BCHe may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.
—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.
—Herodotus, c. 425 BCYou have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.
—Aristophanes, c. 424 BCLet him who desires peace prepare for war.
—Vegetius, c. 385Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
—E.B. White, 1944