Politics Quotes

The fundamental problem of political philosophy is still precisely the one that Spinoza saw so clearly (and that Wilhelm Reich rediscovered): Why do men fight for their servitude as stubbornly as though it were their salvation?

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.

There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel.

I felt slightly superior to student politics, for instance. I had no reason to think this, but I thought of myself as slightly more seasoned. I became quite cynical talking to my student friends.

The combination of economic and political power in the same hands is a sure recipe for tyranny.

A wise man once said, never discuss philosophy or politics in a disco environment.

The idea of freedom is inspiring. But what does it mean? If you are free in a political sense but have no food, what’s that? The freedom to starve?

We know that political power doesn’t flow from the sleeve of a dashiki. We know that political power flows from the barrel of a gun.

But remember that if the struggle were to resort to violence, it will lose vision, beauty and imagination. Most dangerous of all, it will marginalize and eventually victimize women. And a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is no struggle at all.

I discovered, for the first time but not the last, that politicians don’t care too much what things cost. It’s not their money.