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

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

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

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

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

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

Envy is the basis of democracy.

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

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

Politics is the art of the possible.

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.

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.

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.