Men are still men. The despot's wickedness
Comes of ill teaching, and of power's excess,--
Comes of read more

Men are still men. The despot's wickedness
Comes of ill teaching, and of power's excess,--
Comes of the purple he from childhood wears,
Slaves would be tyrants if the chance were theirs.

I knew him tyrannous; and tyrants' fears
Decrease not, but grow faster than the years;
And should read more

I knew him tyrannous; and tyrants' fears
Decrease not, but grow faster than the years;
And should he doubt it, as no doubt he doth,
That I should open to the list'ning air
How many worthy princes' bloods were shed
To keep his bed of blackness unlaid ope,
To lop that doubt, he'll fill this land with arms
And make pretense of wrong that I have done him;
When all, for mine, if I may call offense,
Must feel war's blow, who spares not innocence;
Which love to all, of which thyself art one,
Who now reproved'st me for't--

The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their read more

The world is made up for the most part of morons and natural tyrants, sure of themselves, strong in their own opinions, never doubting anything.

The closed door and the sealed lips are prerequisites to tyranny.

The closed door and the sealed lips are prerequisites to tyranny.

O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
read more

O nation miserable,
With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred,
When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again,
Since that the truest issue of thy throne
By his own interdiction stands accursed
And does blaspheme his breed?

The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them.

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

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

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.

It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.