Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others.

An aristocracy in a republic is like a chicken whose head has been cut off; it may run about in a lively way, but in fact it is dead.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Better to die fighting for freedom than be a prisoner all the days of your life.

Speaking generally, punishment hardens and numbs, it produces concentration, it sharpens the consciousness of alienation, it strengthens the power of resistance.

A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.

Any cook should be able to run the country.

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it.

In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny.

Can a nation be free if it oppresses other nations? It cannot.

Politics has got so expensive that it takes lots of money to even get beat with.

Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.

Democracy arose from men's thinking that if they are equal in any respect, they are equal absolutely.

You can never stop and as older people, we have to learn how to take leadership from the youth and I guess I would say that this is what I'm attempting to do right now.

In the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.

The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.

If you ever injected truth into politics you would have no politics.

What distinguishes the majority of men from the few is their inability to act according to their beliefs.

We are in bondage to the law in order that we may be free.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.