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

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.

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

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.

Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time.

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

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

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

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.

You have all the characteristics of a popular politician: a horrible voice, bad breeding, and a vulgar manner.

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

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

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.