50 Political Philosophy Quotes

In the realm of political philosophy, words hold immense power. They shape ideologies, inspire movements, and challenge the status quo. Whether articulated by ancient philosophers or modern thinkers, these quotes capture the essence of political thought, offering profound insights and timeless wisdom. As we navigate the complexities of governance, justice, and freedom, reflecting on these seminal ideas can provide clarity and provoke deeper contemplation. Join us as we explore a curated collection of the top 50 political philosophy quotes, each one a beacon of intellectual legacy and a testament to the enduring quest for a just society.

1. “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” - Gerald R. Ford

2. “Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.” - Ronald Reagan

3. “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

4. “Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.” - Ronald Reagan

5. “If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.” - Thomas Jefferson

6. “It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting.” - Tom Stoppard

7. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” - Thomas Jefferson

8. “I would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Manhattan phone book than the entire faculty of Harvard.” - William F. Buckley Jr.

9. “Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people at large, ....whence it becomes expedient for promoting the publick happiness that those persons, whom nature hath endowed with genius and virtue, should be rendered by liberal education worthy to receive, and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their fellow citizens, and that they should be called to that charge without regard to wealth, birth or accidental condition of circumstance.” - Thomas Jefferson

10. “If our Founding Fathers wanted us to care about the rest of the world, they wouldn't have declared their independence from it.” - Stephen Colbert

11. “I do not say that democracy has been more pernicious on the whole, and in the long run, than monarchy or aristocracy. Democracy has never been and never can be so durable as aristocracy or monarchy; but while it lasts, it is more bloody than either. … Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide. It is in vain to say that democracy is less vain, less proud, less selfish, less ambitious, or less avaricious than aristocracy or monarchy. It is not true, in fact, and nowhere appears in history. Those passions are the same in all men, under all forms of simple government, and when unchecked, produce the same effects of fraud, violence, and cruelty. When clear prospects are opened before vanity, pride, avarice, or ambition, for their easy gratification, it is hard for the most considerate philosophers and the most conscientious moralists to resist the temptation. Individuals have conquered themselves. Nations and large bodies of men, never.” - John Adams

12. “And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, as that we must be taxed in our meat and in our drink, in our necessaries and our comforts, in our labors and our amusements, for our callings and our creeds, as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, give the earnings of fifteen of these to the government for their debts and daily expenses; and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account; but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow-sufferers.” - Thomas Jefferson

13. “Cathy smiled back ‘Rules were meant to be broken.’‘Don’t disagree,’ Oversteegen replied immediately. ‘Indeed they are. Providin’, however, that the one breakin’ the rules is willin’ t’ pay the price for it, and the price gets charged in full. Which you were, Lady Catharine. I saluted you for it then–at the family dinner table that night, in fact. My mother was infinitely more indisposed thereafter; tottered back t’ her bed cursin’ me for an ingrate. My father was none too pleased either. I salute you for it, again. Otherwise, breakin’ rules becomes the province of brats instead of heroes. Fastest way I can think t’ turn serious political affairs int’ a playpen. A civilized society needs a conscience, and conscience can’t be developed without martyrs—real ones—against which a nation can measure its crimes and sins.” - David Weber

14. “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

15. “Think of how it all started: America was founded by slave owners who informed us, "All men are created equal." All "men," except Indians, niggers, and women. Remember, the founders were a small group of unelected, white, male, land-holding slave owners who also, by the way, suggested their class be the only one allowed to vote. To my mind, that is what's known as being stunningly--and embarrassingly--full of shit.” - George Carlin

16. “The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law.” - Aristotle

17. “As soon as a Western man comes into contact with the East -- he's already confused. The West has sort of an international rape mentality towards the East. ...Basically, 'Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes.' The West thinks of itself as masculine -- big guns, big industry, big money -- so the East is feminine -- weak, delicate, poor...but good at art, and full of inscrutable wisdom -- the feminine mystique. Her mouth says no, but her eyes say yes. The West believes the East, deep down, wants to be dominated -- because a woman can't think for herself. ...You expect Oriental countries to submit to your guns, and you expect Oriental women to be submissive to your men.” - David Henry Hwang

18. “I am increasingly persuaded that the earth belongs exclusively to the living and that one generation has no more right to bind another to it's laws and judgments than one independent nation has the right to command another.” - Thomas Jefferson

19. “The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation.” - Bertrand Russell

20. “In a society run by terror, no statements whatsoever can be taken seriously.” - Milan Kundera (The Unbearable Lightness of Being)

21. “Though the people support the government; the government should not support the people.” - Grover Cleveland

22. “Give us what belongs to us in peace, and if you don't give it to us in peace, we will take it by force.” - Emma Goldman

23. “Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government. Public servants at such a distance, and from under the eye of their constituents, must, from the circumstance of distance, be unable to administer and overlook all the details necessary for the good government of the citizens; and the same circumstance, by rendering detection impossible to their constituents, will invite public agents to corruption, plunder and waste.” - Thomas Jefferson

24. “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” - Plutarch

25. “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to bemanaged by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and ofthe people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has thecapacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear theburden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higherprice.” - Ronald Reagan

26. “You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order --or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path.” - Ronald Reagan

27. “The real enemy" is the totality of physical and mental constraints by which capital, or class society, or statism, or the society of the spectacle expropriates everyday life, the time of our lives. The real enemy is not an object apart from life. It is the organization of life by powers detached from it and turned against it. The apparatus, not its personnel, is the real enemy. But it is by and through the apparatchiks and everyone else participating in the system that domination and deception are made manifest. The totality is the organization of all against each and each against all. It includes all the policemen, all the social workers, all the office workers, all the nuns, all the op-ed columnists, all the drug kingpins from Medellin to Upjohn, all the syndicalists and all the situationists.” - Bob Black

28. “You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work, chances are you'll end up boring, stupid and monotonous. Work is a much better explanation for the creeping cretinization all around us than even such significant moronizing mechanisms as television and education.” - Bob Black

29. “Sovereign is he who decides on the exception.” - Carl Schmitt

30. “Pemerintah yang baik ialah yang berorientasi kepada kepentingan rakyat banyak, bukan berorientasi kepada sekelompok kecil tuan-tuan besar yang hidup di gedung bertingkat dilingkungi kaca seperti permen dalam peles.” - Mahbub Djunaidi

31. “Many laws as certainly make bad men, as bad men make many laws.” - Walter Savage Landor

32. “In essence I find that the foundation of modern conservatism is driven by a clinging to God in fear of the world, whereas the foundation of modern liberalism is a clinging to the world in fear of God; albeit, the true foundation should be one's clinging to God in fear of God.” - Criss Jami

33. “religion, the most powerful of the elements which have entered into the formation of moral feeling, having almost always been governed either by the ambition of a hierarchy, seeking control over every department of human conduct, or by the spirit of Puritanism.” - John Stuart Mill

34. “O siamo capaci di sconfiggere le opinioni contrarie con la discussione, o dobbiamo lasciarle esprimere. Non è possibile sconfiggere le opinioni con la forza, perché questo blocca il libero sviluppo dell'intelligenza.” - Ernesto Guevara

35. “The job facing American voters… in the days and years to come is to determine which hearts, minds and souls command those qualities best suited to unify a country rather than further divide it, to heal the wounds of a nation as opposed to aggravate its injuries, and to secure for the next generation a legacy of choices based on informed awareness rather than one of reactions based on unknowing fear.” - Aberjhani

36. “Tell me,' asked Stas, 'what is a wicked deed?' 'If anyone takes away Kali's cow,' he answered after a brief reflection, 'that then is a wicked deed.' 'Excellent!' exclaimed Stas, 'and what is a good one?' This time the answer came without any reflection: 'If Kali takes away the cow of somebody else, that is a good deed.' Stas was too young to perceive that similar views of evil and good deeds were enunciated in Europe not only by politicians but by whole nations.” - Henryk Sienkiewicz

37. “the average man does not want to be free. he simply wants to be safe.” - H.L. Mencken

38. “All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts not only because of their historical development - in which they were transferred from theology to the theory of the state, whereby, for example, the omnipotent god became the omnipotent lawgiver - but also because of their systematic structure, the recognition of which is necessary for a sociological consideration of these concepts. The exception in jurisprudence is analogous to the miracle in theology. Only by being aware of this analogy can we appreciate the manner in which the philosophical ideas of the state developed in the last centuries.” - Carl Schmitt

39. “El hombre ha nacido libre y en todas partes se halla encadenado.” - Rousseau Jean-Jacques 1712-1778 Jean-Jacques

40. “Pues nada ha sido nunca para un hombre o una sociedad humana más insoportable que la libertad.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

41. “Chet couldn’t wipe away his smile. “I have learned much since we parted ways, and one of those lessons is that a static force, even in mass, can be crushed by a dynamic one.” Wellington‘s face stiffened. “What kind of foolish talk is that?” “You will find out. On the Fourth of July, as you sit here in your governor’s mansion pandering to your public servants—using them to climb into more power, you will learn what it feels like to have everything you believe in shatter before your very eyes.” Wellington shifted irritably in his seat. “What sort of riddle is that, Chet? You and I have been in this political game our entire lives. You know how it works, and that’s not going to change. Ever. One party controls the knobs of politics with one hand, and the other party controls the knobs with the other hand. But they are all one body, members of a political ruling class. That’s what we do. This isn’t anything new.” Chet pushed his brows over his eyes in a gaze that could melt steel. “You will not be able to stop the ramifications of its impact. This thing I’m about to unleash upon you, I’m doing to you because you are an evil man. I used to be, I’ll give you that. But I changed, luckily, before death found me. And I will not let you get away with what you are doing to this country.” Wellington was aghast. “So you’re involved with terrorism now, are you? What are you going to do?” Chet shook his head. “The truth isn’t something you can hide from people. They all feel it even if they don’t understand the intentions behind the madness.” Wellington was in a near panic in anticipation over what Chet was planning. “I can have you followed, you know. Everyone you speak to will be monitored. Surely you know that? And who are you to decide what the best position for anything is? You don’t have a right to make decisions for the masses. If you were sitting in my seat, perhaps. But you’re not.” “If you hadn’t cheated, I would be in your chair.” Chet pierced Wellington with his squinted eyes. “And because of that, I have decided that you aren’t able to make decisions for the masses either, and I’ll see to it that you won’t continue to do so.” Chet pushed back his chair and stood up dramatically. “Enjoy this office because you won’t be here long.” Wellington contorted his face in panic. “What are you doing? What’s going to happen? Tell me at least that much! Was it so bad between us that we can’t reason with each other? Maybe we could make a deal. What if I make you my presidential running mate?” Chet didn’t answer. He headed for the door, unsure as to why he had said that last part. He still didn’t really know what was going to happen. But with Rick Stevens headed down in a few days with a multimillion dollar car, anything was possible. But now Wellington would know that Chet was behind the crazy driver who refused to pull over.” - Rich Hoffman

42. “We are all born to love people and use things. Unfortunately, we grow to love things and use people...” - T. Rafael Cimino

43. “Prolific irony - For 8 years, the finger on the button that could end the world belonged to a president who couldn't pronounce the word "nuclear.” - T. Rafael Cimino

44. “Y yo pregunto a los economistas políticos, a los moralistas, si han calculado el número de individuos que es necesario condenar a la miseria, al trabajo desproporcionado, a la infancia desamparada, a la ignorancia crapulosa, a la desgracia invencible, a la penuria absoluta, para producir un rico.” - Almeida Garrett

45. “Round pegs in square holes tend to have dangerous thoughts about the social system and tend to infect others with their discontents.” - Aldous Huxley

46. “Now I would solicit the particular attention of those numerous people who imagine that money is everything in this world, and that rank and ability are inseparable from wealth: let them observe that Cincinnatus, the one man in whom Rome reposed all her hope of survival, was at that moment working a little three-acre farm (now known as Quinctian meadows) west of the Tiber, just opposite the spot where the shipyards are today. A mission from the city found him at work on his land - digging a ditch, maybe, or ploughing. Greetings were exchanged, and he was asked - with a prayer for God's blessing on himself and his country - to put on his toga and hear the Senate's instructions. This naturally surprised him, and, asking if all were well, he told his wife Racilia to run to their cottage and fetch his toga. The toga was brought, and wiping the grimy sweat from his hands and face he put it on; at once the envoys from the city saluted him, with congratulations, as Dictator, invited him to enter Rome, and informed him of the terrible danger of Minucius's army.” - Livy

47. “القتل قد يُصبح أثراً جانبياً لدواء يشفي بلد يحتضر-على لسان حسين الزهاّر.” - أحمد مراد

48. “Hay dos maneras de combatir: una con leyes y otra con la fuerza, la primera es propia del hombre, la segunda es de los animales, pero como muchas veces la primera no basta conviene recurrir a la segunda.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

49. “When we take away from a man his traditional way of life, his customs, hi religion, we had better make certain to replace it with SOMETHING OF VALUE” - Robert Ruark

50. “A politician lost an argument; he went on a rampage with his fists pointed towards the sky—a move which amounts to a search for a new self.” - Duop Chak Wuol