Democratic societies are unfit for the publication of such thunderous revelations as I am in the habit of making.

Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.

As individuals, people are inherently good. I have a somewhat more pessimistic view of people in groups. And I remain extremely concerned when I see what’s happening in our country, which is in many ways the luckiest place in the world. We don’t seem to be excited about making our country a better place for our kids.

It was the Congress that imposed ‚Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,‘ it was certainly my position, my recommendation to get us out of an even worse outcome that could have occurred.

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.

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.

There are plenty of people who are, I think, completely racist who love hip-hop.

For Forms of Government let fools contest; whatever is best administered is best.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.

The mind of America is seized by a fatal dry rot – and it’s only a question of time before all that the mind controls will run amuck in a frenzy of stupid, impotent fear.

Therefore, the good of man must be the end of the science of politics.

I think organized labor is a necessary part of democracy. Organized labor is the only way to have fair distribution of wealth.

Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that either the Democratic or Republican party has produced at least since I’ve been around. He’s fresh, he’s new, he’s insightful.

The government, whether state or central, is elected. That means we have a responsibility to elect the right kind of leaders.

Morality arose largely as an empirical defence of the individual and society. Ever since intelligent beings began to be in contact, and consequently in friction, they have felt the need to guard themselves against each other’s encroachments.

You can’t put democracy and freedom back into a box.

I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.

By most accounts, Aristide is the most popular figure in Haiti.

If you believe that tax policy has nothing to do with the economy, then you’re pretty much like a rock, only dumber.

Africans require, want, the franchise on the basis of one man one vote. They want political independence.

My job is not to represent Washington to you, but to represent you to Washington.

The right honourable gentleman caught the Whigs bathing, and walked away with their clothes. He has left them in the full enjoyment of their liberal positions, and he is himself a strict conservative of their garments.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

Obviously, I’m no fan of the radical left.

I’ve never been able to understand why a Republican contributor is a ‚fat cat‘ and a Democratic contributor of the same amount of money is a ‚public-spirited philanthropist‘.

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between.

If people continue to feel like Democrats are looking after poor folks and Republicans are looking after rich folks and nobody is looking after me, then we don’t get a lot of stuff done. And the trend lines evidence the fact that folks have gotten squeezed. And obviously, 2007, 2008 really ripped open for people how vulnerable they were.

We are not about to send American boys 9 or 10 thousand miles away from home to do what Asian boys ought to be doing for themselves.

I am such a political person.

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men.

I should tie myself to no particular system of society other than of socialism.

The French are so into themselves that they don’t even notice you.

Society is at odds with itself.

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what’s going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?

I consider myself a moderate Republican. I have very, very moderate social views, and I’m pretty strong on, on defense matters.

The fault lines are shifting from the boundaries of nations into the web of our societies and the streets of our cities. And, terrorism and extremism are a global force that are larger than their changing names, groups, territories and targets.

The intersection of law, politics, and technology is going to force a lot of good thinking.

You can’t get a contemporary story about what is going on inside government, and how society sees itself, on American TV.

I am not a crook.

The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort? Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that’s making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?

Politics is such a torment that I advise everyone I love not to mix with it.

In the 21st century, the countries that thrive will be the ones where citizens know their voices will be heard because the institutions are transparent.

Politics is just a function of business now, just a tributary of the great entrepreneurial capitalist system.

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued – they may be essential to survival.

All people are born alike – except Republicans and Democrats.

The world is weary of statesmen whom democracy has degraded into politicians.

Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.

It’s nice to say let’s be bipartisan. But we’re a partisan nation. We were raised as a partisan nation.

I have been ever of opinion that revolutions are not to be evaded.

A reactionary is a somnambulist walking backwards.

Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books that nobody reads.

The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.

I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking.

I’ll be honest: I haven’t ruled politics out.

The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself-always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.

What the Pope thinks of being gay does not matter to the world. It matters to the people who like the Pope and follow the Pope… It is not a reflection of all religious people.

The value of a dollar is social, as it is created by society.

I seldom think of politics more than eighteen hours a day.

Since I’m the president and Democrats have controlled the House and the Senate, it’s understandable that people are saying, you know, ‚What have you done?‘