The work of internal government has become the task of controlling the thousands of fifth-rate men. -- Henry B. AdamsI didn't accept it. I received it. -- Richard Allen, National Security Advisor to President Reagan, explaining the $1000 in cash and two watches he was given by two Japanese journalists after he helped arrange a private interview for them with First Lady Nancy Reagan.I don't know exactly what democracy is. But we need more of it. -- Anonymous Chinese Student, during protests in Tianamen Square, Beijing, 1989Republican boys date Democratic girls. They plan to marry Republican girls, but feel they're entitled to a little fun first. -- AnonymousAsking politicians to vote themselves out of power is like asking rabbits not to multiply, it ain't natural. -- Bob Beckel, on term limits, CBS This Morning, 3/30/95CAPITAL, n. The seat of misgovernment. That which provides the fire, the pot, the dinner, the table and the knife and fork for the anarchist; the part of the repast that himself supplies is the disgrace before meat. -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, 1911People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election. -- Otto von BismarckToo bad all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair. -- George BurnsMan is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature. -- Samuel ButlerJust buy a box of popcorn and a Coca-Cola and sit back and watch. -- James Carville, Clinton advisor, offering advice for Democrats on the term-limits vote in the HouseDiplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock. -- Wynn Catlin, also attributed to Will RogersI still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals... -- G. K. ChestertonAny man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains. -- Winston ChurchillThe inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries. -- Winston ChurchillSir, I would rather be right than be President. -- Henry Clay, Speech, 1850, referring to the Compromise MeasureNothing can so alienate a voter from the political system as backing a winning candidate. -- Mark B. CohenWhen I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it. -- Clarence DarrowThe multitude is always in the wrong. -- Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, 1684Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral. -- Paulo FreireA liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel. -- Robert FrostPolitics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable. -- John Kenneth GalbraithUnder capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true. -- John Kenneth GalbraithThe marriage of Marxism and feminism has been like the marriage of husband and wife depicted in English common law: Marxism and feminism are one, and that one is Marxism. -- Heidi Hartmann, The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and FeminismTauzin backs term limits -- But he thinks it's a bad idea. -- Headline, story in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Feb 20, 1995We need a president who's fluent in at least one language. -- Buck HenryWhat luck for the rulers that men do not think. -- Adolf HitlerThe death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment. -- Robert Hutchins, Great Books, 1954Asking an incumbent member of Congress to vote for term limits is a bit like asking a chicken to vote for Colonel Sanders. -- Bob Inglis, 1995All over Washington today, the politicians and the power brokers are happy. In fact, if you listen closely, you can hear the sound of champagne corks popping. -- Paul Jacob, Term Limits Executive DirectorThe price of freedom is eternal vigilance. -- Thomas JeffersonDo you not know, my son, with what little understanding the world is ruled? -- Pope Julius IIIThe crime bill passed by the Senate would reinstate the Federal death penalty for certain violent crimes: assassinating the President; hijacking an airliner; and murdering a government poultry inspector. -- Knight Ridder News Service dispatchEh! Je suis leur chef, il fallait bien les suivre. (Ah well! I am their leader, I really ought to follow them.) -- Alexandre Auguste Ledru-RollinPower corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat. -- John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy, 1981-1987Based on what you know about him in history books, what do you think Abraham Lincoln would be doing if he were alive today?
1) Writing his memoirs of the Civil War.
2) Advising the President.
3) Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin. -- David LettermanAs I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. -- Abraham LincolnNo man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. -- Abraham LincolnJimmy Carter as President is like Truman Capote marrying Dolly Parton. The job is just too big for him. -- Rich LittlePolitics have no relation to morals. -- Niccolo MachiavelliIt is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, The PrincePolitics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies. -- Groucho MarxIt is dangerous for a national candidate to say things that people might remember. -- Eugene McCarthyIf a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner. -- H. L. MenckenIn this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican. -- H. L. MenckenUnder democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule--and both commonly succeed, and are right. -- H. L. MenckenConservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives. -- John Stuart MillMy father was a minister. I had to make up for the lack of sin. -- Milwuakee mayor, on why he became a politicianIntelligence has nothing to do with politics. -- Londo MolariWatching the debate this afternoon it was apparent they loved term limits in the House -- as Brutus loved Caesar. -- Bill MoyersBad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. -- George Jean NathanWe do not have censorship. What we have is a limitation on what newspapers can report. -- Louis Nel, Deputy Minister of Information, South AfricaOregon Democratic Senate candidate Tom Bruggere, in describing his support for comprehensive health care during a candidates' forum, said he supported "erection-to-resurrection" coverage. He later amended that to "cradle to grave." -- News reportThe Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it. -- P. J. O'RourkeWhen buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. -- P. J. O'RourkePublic office is the last refuge of a scoundrel. -- Boies Penrose, 1931If we let people see that kind of thing, there would never again be any war. -- Pentagon official, on why US military censored graphic footage from the Gulf WarI know I'm not in government anymore. In fact I'm out of work. -- Ronald Reagan, Former U.S. President, on a speaking tour of Japan, 1989Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. -- Ronald Reagan, Saturday Evening Post, 1965A government is the only known vessel that leaks from the top. -- James RestonPolitics is for people who have a passion for changing life but lack a passion for living it. -- Tom RobbinsWhat is politics, after all, but the compulsion to preside over property and make other peoples' decisions for them? -- Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and AllI'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat! -- Will RogersThe man with the best job in the country is the Vice President. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, "How's the President?" -- Will RogersThere ought to be one day - just one - when there is open season on senators. -- Will RogersThis country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. -- Will RogersThe Republicans have a new healthcare proposal: Just say NO to illness! -- Mark RussellIf God had meant us to vote, He would have given us candidates. -- Seen on a bumper stickerA government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul. -- George Bernard ShawDemocracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. -- George Bernard ShawDemocracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for the appointment by the corrupt few. -- George Bernard ShawIf absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure? -- Harry ShearerIn America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take. -- Adlai StevensonThe best reason I can think of for not running for President of the United States is that you have to shave twice a day. -- Adlai StevensonHey, you can't fight in here! This is the war room! -- Dr. StrangeloveWhen you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment... it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands. -- Margaret Thatcher, on the Falklands ConflictThat government is best which governs least. -- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849Wherever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship. -- Harry S. TrumanThe principle of give and take is the principle of diplomacy - give one and take ten. -- Mark TwainDemocracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. -- Oscar WildeWhen making public policy decisions about new technologies for the Government, I think one should ask oneself which technologies would best strengthen the hand of a police state. Then, do not allow the Government to deploy those technologies. -- Philip ZimmermannThe fantasy which serves as a support for the figure of the Stalinist Communist is therefore exactly the same as the fantasy which is at work in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. -- Slavoj ZizekDemocracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them. -- Marquis de Flers Robert and Arman de Caillavet