Quotes about politics

Man is by nature a political animal.

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Written in a tax dispute with the colony's proprietors — the context is narrower than the slogan.

A house divided against itself cannot stand.

He was quoting the Gospels (Mark 3:25).

…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

With malice toward none, with charity for all…

Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

He introduced it with "it has been said that…" — he was quoting, not coining.

The welfare of the people shall be the supreme law.

It is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

He meant false patriotism used as a cover, not love of country.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

The only liberty I mean is a liberty connected with order.

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.

Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

He called it a West African proverb.

Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

King was adapting a line by the abolitionist preacher Theodore Parker (1853).

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Politics, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.