Envy is the basis of democracy.
—Bertrand Russell, 1930Quotes
The U.S. presidency is a Tudor monarchy plus telephones.
—Anthony Burgess, 1972There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.
—Walter Bagehot, 1863I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!
—George H. W. Bush, 1990Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
—Lord Acton, 1887People revere the Constitution yet know so little about it—and that goes for some of my fellow senators.
—Robert Byrd, 2005O citizens, first acquire wealth; you can practice virtue afterward.
—Horace, c. 8 BCEvery communist must grasp the truth: “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
—Mao Zedong, 1938You should never have your best trousers on when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.
—Henrik Ibsen, 1882The more corrupt the republic, the more numerous the laws.
—Tacitus, c. 117I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.
—Catherine the Great, c. 1796There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.
—Anthony Trollope, 1862In politics, what begins in fear usually ends in folly.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1830