Politics is the art of the possible.
—Otto von Bismarck, 1867Quotes
I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.
—Paul Valéry, 1943The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972Written laws are like spiderwebs: they will catch, it is true, the weak and poor but would be torn in pieces by the rich and powerful.
—Anacharsis, c. 550 BCThe Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.
—Che Guevara, 1968On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580All the ills of democracy can be cured by more democracy.
—Al Smith, 1933He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.
—Emperor Francis Joseph, c. 1850Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.
—John Wilkes Booth, 1865Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.
—E.B. White, 1944The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
—Tacitus, c. 117Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906