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Quotes

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

—Judge Learned Hand, 1944

No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or dispossessed or outlawed or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him, nor will we send against him except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

—Magna Carta, 1215

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.

—Francis Bacon, 1625

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

—Al Smith, 1933

Envy is the basis of democracy.

—Bertrand Russell, 1930

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.

—Hannah Arendt, 1958

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

—Aristophanes, c. 424 BC

My 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. 1770

What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham.

—Frederick Douglass, 1855

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

—Maximilien Robespierre, 1792

The vice presidency isn’t worth a pitcher of warm piss.

—John Nance Garner, c. 1967

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

—Anthony Burgess, 1972

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

—Anthony Trollope, 1862