A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it -- it keeps him upright.

It is much safer to obey, than to govern.

It is much safer to obey, than to govern.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that read more

People are beginning to realize that the apparatus of government is costly. But what they do not know is that the burden falls inevitably on them.

The State always moves slowly and grudgingly towards any purpose that accrues to society's advantage, but moves rapidly and with read more

The State always moves slowly and grudgingly towards any purpose that accrues to society's advantage, but moves rapidly and with alacrity towards one that accrues to its own advantage; nor does it ever move towards social purposes on its own initiative, but only under heavy pressure, while its motion towards anti-social purposes is self-sprung.

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most read more

It is the very essence of despotism that it can never afford to fail. This is what distinguishes it most vitally from democracy. In a despotism there is no organized opposition which can take over the power when the Administration in office has failed. All the eggs are in one basket. Everything is staked on one coterie of men. When the going is good, they move more quickly and efficiently than democracies, where the opposition has to be persuaded and conciliated. But when they lose, there are no reserves. There are no substitutes on the bench ready to go out on the field and carry the ball. That is why democracies with the habit of party government have outlived all other forms of government in the modern world. They have, as it were, at least two governments always at hand, and when one fails they have the other. They have diversified the risks of mortality, corruption, and stupidity which pervade all human affairs. They have remembered that the most beautifully impressive machine cannot run for very long unless there is available a complete supply of spare parts.

All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.

All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies.

I was recently on a tour of Latin America,and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin read more

I was recently on a tour of Latin America,and the only regret I have was that I didn't study Latin harder in school so I could converse with those people.

My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised.

My constituency is the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised.