Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.

The question really is, are you improving the world? And you can do that in many models. You can do that in government, you can do that in a nonprofit, and you can do it in commercial enterprise.

It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.

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.

It sure is hell to be president.

He is a drunkard who takes more than three glasses though he be not drunk.

El Salvador is a democracy so it’s not surprising that there are many voices to be heard here. Yet in my conversations with Salvadorans… I have heard a single voice.

Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery.

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

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?‘

Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.

The wisest use of American strength is to advance freedom.

The happy Union of these States is a wonder; their Constitution a miracle; their example the hope of Liberty throughout the world.

A Conservative Government is an organized hypocrisy.

The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore.

The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable.

Nothing turns out to be so oppressive and unjust as a feeble government.

We are a forward-looking people, and we must have a forward-looking government.

It is my view that we cannot conduct foreign policy at the extremes.

Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.

If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

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.

Educate and inform the whole mass of the people… They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.

The government of Israel doesn’t like the kinds of things I say, which puts them into the same category as every other government in the world.

A man can take a little bourbon without getting drunk, but if you hold his mouth open and pour in a quart, he’s going to get sick on it.

The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.

In my view of the present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in advance, there will be no blood shed unless it be forced upon the government. The government will not use force unless force is used against it.

In a democracy, the majority of the citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority.

Washington isn’t a city, it’s an abstraction.

There is no more independence in politics than there is in jail.

For any young democracy, the most difficult but important step is burying the legacy of tyranny and establishing an economy and a government and institutions that abide by the rule of law. Every country faces challenges to the rule of law, including my own.

What Washington needs is adult supervision.

I don’t write policy for my government.

A whole people with the ballot in their hands possess the most conclusive and unlimited power ever entrusted to humanity.

Freedom does not die from frontal attack. It dies because men in power no longer believe in a system based upon liberty.

One of the peculiarities of Delhi is that the term ‚reform‘ is associated only with passing of laws in Parliament. In fact, the most important reforms are those needed, without new laws, at various level of the government, in work practices and procedures.

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

You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.

When you decide to get involved in a military operation in a place like Syria, you’ve got to be prepared, as we learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, to become the government, and I’m not sure any country, either the United States or I don’t hear of anyone else, who’s willing to take on that responsibility.

Earnestness is enthusiasm tempered by reason.

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.

The only bipartisanship you ever see is when they finally sign a bill and everybody says, ‚Gee, isn’t that wonderful?‘

I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth.

Well, I thought the deal was, when you went to work for the government you weren’t supposed to make money!

Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other’s speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in.

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

Read my lips: no new taxes.

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.

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

I draw from the Absurd three consequences: my revolt, my liberty, my passion.

This young century will be liberty’s century.

America is a Nation with a mission – and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace – a peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and woman.

The effect of liberty to individuals is that they may do what they please: we ought to see what it will please them to do, before we risk congratulations.

I like to talk about my obsession with french fries because I don’t want people to think that ‚Let’s Move‘ is about complete, utter deprivation. It’s about moderation and real-life changes and ideas that really work for families.

The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction.