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

You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

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

Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.

To be turned from one’s course by men’s opinions, by blame, and by misrepresentation shows a man unfit to hold office.

What 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.

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.

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.

A real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.

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

Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.

If you must take care that your opinions do not differ in the least from those of the person with whom you are talking, you might just as well be alone.