In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.
The Declaration of Independence I always considered as a theatrical show. Jefferson ran away with all the stage effect of that.
Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.
In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.
Let us be satisfied with this Cato.
Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation that those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means.
The principle that the end justifies the means is and remains the only rule of political ethics.
War is the continuation of politics by other means.
It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once.
Democracy has disappeared in several great nations, not because the people of those nations dislike democracy, but because they have grown tired of unemployment and insecurity.
Diplomacy without arms is music without instruments.
The state is nothing but an instrument of oppression of one class by another - no less so in a democratic republic than in a monarchy.
Terror consists mostly of useless cruelties perpetrated by frightened people in order to reassure themselves.
He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.
It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
