- “You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.”
- “What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.”
- “The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.”
- “When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.”
- “You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
The Five Wisdoms of politics
Where to place your confidence
“Let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
Liars and thieves
“‘Liar’ is just as ugly a word as ‘thief,’ because it implies the presence of just as ugly a sin in one case as in the other. If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law.”
Virtue
“Virtue is harder to be got than a knowledge of the world; and, if lost in a young man, is seldom recovered.”
Healthy humility
“Anything that keeps a politician humble is healthy for democracy.”
Frank discussion needed
“We must feel comfortable enough with one another — and tolerant enough of each other — to have frank conversations about the racial matters that continue to divide us.”
True character
“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.”
Democracies are not permanent
“The eighteenth-century Scottish historian Alexander Tytler said: ‘A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.’”
Power is not alluring
“Power is not alluring to pure minds.”
Hell hath no fury
“Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned.”