“The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.”

“Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery.”

“I am little acquainted with politeness, but I know a good deal of benevolence of temper and goodness of heart.”

“The central government was a despotism tempered by military rebellion and assassination and replacement of one scurvy lot of ruling dynasts by another. But the high politics of the city of Rome little affected the lives of the masses or even of the provincial nobility. It was the wonderful army that provided the continuity and peace that this vast population enjoyed.”

“Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.”

“Tyranny is a form of perversion. We come to love it. Every government is a tyranny to a degree, and the more evil it is, the more it is loved. The difficulty lies in judging the degree of tyranny under which you live.”