"Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats."

Prejudices: First Series
"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all."
"Off goes the head of the king, and tyranny gives way to freedom. The change seems abysmal. Then, bit by bit, the face of freedom hardens, and by and by it is the old face of tyranny. Then another cycle, and another. But under the play of all these opposites there is something fundamental and permanent — the basic delusion that men may be governed and yet be free."

The American Credo: A Contribution Toward the Interpretation of the National Mind
"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."

A Little Book in C Major