Democracy passes into despotism.

Our object in the construction of the state is the greatest happiness of the whole, and not that of any one class.

If you ever injected truth into politics you have no politics.

This nuclear option is ultimately an example of the arrogance of power.

A leader in the Democratic Party is a boss, in the Republican Party he is a leader.

A specter is haunting Europe – the specter of communism.

My brother Bob doesn’t want to be in government – he promised Dad he’d go straight.

There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.

The mark of a true politician is that he is never at a loss for words because he is always half-expecting to be asked to make a speech.

Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy.

Even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it would choose the American system.

Liberty must be limited in order to be possessed.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

When Rumsfeld gets up on television and says we have definitive intelligence that al Qaeda is working with Iraq, how is an ordinary citizen supposed to react? They won’t tell you the evidence, and when anyone asks, they say, ‚Well, you know: It’s secret.‘

To restore the trust of the people, we must reform the way the government operates.

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

Colonies do not cease to be colonies because they are independent.

No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.

Liberty may be endangered by the abuse of liberty, but also by the abuse of power.

If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be ‚Citizens United.‘ I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.

‚Obama and Biden want to raise taxes by a trillion dollars.‘ Guess what? Yes, we do in one regard: We want to let that trillion dollar tax cut expire so the middle class doesn’t have to bear the burden of all that money going to the super-wealthy. That’s not a tax raise. That’s called fairness where I come from.

Everything is political. I will never be a politician or even think political. Me just deal with life and nature. That is the greatest thing to me.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction.

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.

Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.

Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.

Remember, it is not about voting for the perfect candidate – there is no such thing. Presidents are human.

I believed what my father taught me about the separation of church and state, so when I was President I never invited Billy Graham to have services in the White House because I didn’t think that was appropriate. He was injured a little bit, until I explained it to him.

Politics is not bean bags. It’s serious, tough stuff.

The President’s post should not be politicised. Once a president is elected, he is above politics.

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.

I’m not a big politics guy.

Politics is not a game. It is an earnest business.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.

My objection to Liberalism is this that it is the introduction into the practical business of life of the highest kind namely, politics of philosophical ideas instead of political principles.

Anything important is never left to the vote of the people. We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do.

I don’t like to see a president who is just out campaigning all year long or for the last four years. I’d like to see somebody who’s going in the office. In fact, I’d like to not see them because that way you’d be sure that they’d be working.

Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who’ll get the blame.

I’m going to stay active as long as I can politically, and with the Carter Center primarily, and if I’m able mentally and physically, will continue to be quite active.

I don’t think President Trump is a racist.

I have learned, in my life and work as a sportswriter, that big-time Sports and big-time Politics are not so far apart in America. They are both a means to the same end, which is victory… And why not? Victory is good for you, and don’t let anybody tell you different.

Honor is not the exclusive property of any political party.

In a democracy, in a functioning democracy, what would be happening is that popular organizations, unions, political groupings, others would be developing their programs, putting them forth, insisting that their representatives implement those programs.

Conservatism discards Prescription, shrinks from Principle, disavows Progress; having rejected all respect for antiquity, it offers no redress for the present, and makes no preparation for the future.

When the President does it, that means that it’s not illegal.

It is just as important that business keep out of government as that government keep out of business.

There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the President stops being President in his last year.

The presidency has many problems, but boredom is the least of them.

One of the most pervasive political visions of our time is the vision of liberals as compassionate and conservatives as less caring.

A gaffe in Washington is someone telling the truth, and telling the truth has never hurt me.

There might be some serious fun in politics.

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.

I was an Eisenhower Republican when I started out at 21 because he promised to get us out of the Korean War.

As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, I know that the men and women of our intelligence community put their lives on the line every day, and they do very dangerous work to keep our country safe.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The difference between a Republican and a Democrat is the Democrat is a cannibal they have to live off each other, while the Republicans, why, they live off the Democrats.