You may proclaim, dear sirs, your fine philosophy,
But till you feed us, right and wrong can wait!
—Bertolt Brecht, 1928
The horses fight when the manger is empty.
—Danish proverb
[Karl Marx] discovered the simple fact that, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first eat and drink, have shelter and closing, before it can pursue
politics, science, religion, art, etc.
—Friedrich Engels, 1883
The important thing is the struggle everybody is engaged into get better living conditions,
and they are not interested too much in the form of government.
—Bernard Baruch, 1964
Few men desire liberty; most wish only for a just master.
—Sallust, 1st century BC
When men are well governed, they neither seek nor desire any other liberty.
—Niccoló Machiavelli, 1517
***
Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
—Don Marquis
11
The century on which we are entering – the century which we will come out of this war –
can be and must be the century of the common man.
—Henry A. Wallace, 1942
We are in danger of developing a cult of the Common Man, which means a cult of
mediocrity.
—Herbert Hoover, 1955
A government by the passions of the multitude, or, no less correctly, according to the vices
and ambition of their leaders, is a democracy.
—Fisher Ames, 1805
What does the democracy come down to? The persuasive power of slogans invented by
wily self-seeking politicians.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1939
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
—H. L. Mencken, 1926
12
11
This is of course an (undated) twist of a line from the Bible (Matthew 5:5), with the word “pity”
replacing the original “blessed”.
12
Wikiquotes states that this is a misattribution, but it is not – a rare error on this great web site.
On Government and Politics
167
But till you feed us, right and wrong can wait!
—Bertolt Brecht, 1928
The horses fight when the manger is empty.
—Danish proverb
[Karl Marx] discovered the simple fact that, hitherto concealed by an overgrowth of ideology, that mankind must first eat and drink, have shelter and closing, before it can pursue
politics, science, religion, art, etc.
—Friedrich Engels, 1883
The important thing is the struggle everybody is engaged into get better living conditions,
and they are not interested too much in the form of government.
—Bernard Baruch, 1964
Few men desire liberty; most wish only for a just master.
—Sallust, 1st century BC
When men are well governed, they neither seek nor desire any other liberty.
—Niccoló Machiavelli, 1517
***
Pity the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
—Don Marquis
11
The century on which we are entering – the century which we will come out of this war –
can be and must be the century of the common man.
—Henry A. Wallace, 1942
We are in danger of developing a cult of the Common Man, which means a cult of
mediocrity.
—Herbert Hoover, 1955
A government by the passions of the multitude, or, no less correctly, according to the vices
and ambition of their leaders, is a democracy.
—Fisher Ames, 1805
What does the democracy come down to? The persuasive power of slogans invented by
wily self-seeking politicians.
—W. Somerset Maugham, 1939
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.
—H. L. Mencken, 1926
12
11
This is of course an (undated) twist of a line from the Bible (Matthew 5:5), with the word “pity”
replacing the original “blessed”.
12
Wikiquotes states that this is a misattribution, but it is not – a rare error on this great web site.
On Government and Politics
167