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.

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

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

There is no method by which men can be both free and equal.

Natural rights is simple nonsense: natural and imprescriptible rights, rhetorical nonsense—nonsense upon stilts.

The most hateful torment for men is to have knowledge of everything but power over nothing.

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

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.

Sic semper tyrannis! The South is avenged.

A real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.

Envy is the basis of democracy.

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.