The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.

Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity.

Socialism means slavery.

Learn as much by writing as by reading.

Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end.

Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.

Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites.

The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority.

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

There is no error so monstrous that it fails to find defenders among the ablest men.

The science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the streams of history, like the grains of gold in the sand of a river; and the knowledge of the past, the record of truths revealed by experience, is eminently practical, as an instrument of action and a power that goes to making the future.

Save for the wild force of Nature, nothing moves in this world that is not Greek in its origin.

The long term versus the short term argument is one used by losers.

There are two things which cannot be attacked in front: ignorance and narrow-mindedness. They can only be shaken by the simple development of the contrary qualities. They will not bear discussion.

There is not a soul who does not have to beg alms of another, either a smile, a handshake, or a fond eye.

If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. Nothing in the paper today, we sigh.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern: every class is unfit to govern.

And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that.

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks.

Machiavelli's teaching would hardly have stood the test of Parliamentary government, for public discussion demands at least the profession of good faith.

The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections.

Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought.

To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice.

Property is not the sacred right. When a rich man becomes poor it is a misfortune, it is not a moral evil. When a poor man becomes destitute, it is a moral evil, teeming with consequences and injurious to society and morality.

I'm not a driven businessman, but a driven artist. I never think about money. Beautiful things make money.

The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern every class is unfit to govern.

It is dangerous at any time to multiply sources of weakness.

Federalism is the best curb on democracy. It assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.

Monarchy hardens into despotism. Aristocracy contracts into oligarchy. Democracy expands into the supremacy of numbers.

The burnt odor in Washington is from the disintegrating authority of the governing classes.

If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself - your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers.

All wars come to an end, at least temporarily. But the authority acquired by the state hangs on; political power never abdicates.

Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.

I call religion a natural authority, but it has usually been conceived as a supernatural authority.

But in our age the appeal to authority is weak, and I am of my age.

And revolutions always mean the breakdown of old authority.

In revolutions authority remains with the greatest scoundrels.

We all agree that we've got to bring these terrorists to justice and to make sure that they're never allowed to perpetrate such an evil act as they did. And so all of us are dealing with that. We know that the President has the authority to go to war under the War Powers Act.

The faith that stands on authority is not faith.

As a result of my study, I came to the conclusion that a common supreme authority was undesirable.

Universal suffrage should rest upon universal education. To this end, liberal and permanent provision should be made for the support of free schools by the State governments, and, if need be, supplemented by legitimate aid from national authority.

The dead and past stories that I have told again in divers fashions, are not set down without authority.

I had learned many years ago in private business never to take responsibility without adequate authority; and the new Secretary of Defense, as budgets were sharply cut, quickly found that out.

The whole basis of the Constitution was a restriction of power, and the whole basis of the federalist system was that there was not one sovereign centralized power from which all authority flows.

God is the King. In him exists all legal authority.

Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.