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

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.

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

Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.

Written 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.

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

There is nothing more tyrannical than a strong popular feeling among a democratic people.

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

Whether for good or evil, it is sadly inevitable that all political leadership requires the artifices of theatrical illusion. In the politics of a democracy, the shortest distance between two points is often a crooked line.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

I shall be an autocrat: that’s my trade. And the good Lord will forgive me: that’s his.

Treaties, you see, are like girls and roses: they last while they last.

The Revolution is made by man, but man must forge his revolutionary spirit from day to day.