He may be a patriot for Austria, but the question is whether he is a patriot for me.

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

Why has the government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint.

You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

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.

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.

The first requirement of a statesman is that he be dull.

People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.

In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.

On the loftiest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own rump.

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.

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

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