All quotes

a prince should entrust his friends with so much authority only as leaves a certain interval between his position and theirs

it must be from one man that it receives its institutions at first, and upon one man that all similar reconstruction must depend

there is no surer or more necessary restraint on the violence of an unruly multitude, than the presence of some one whose character and bearing command respect

A wise man ought always to follow the paths beaten by great men, and to imitate those who have been supreme, so that if his ability does not equal theirs, at least it will savour of it.

It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with.

Therefore it must be inferred that good counsels, whencesoever they come, are born of the wisdom of the prince, and not the wisdom of the prince from good counsels.

Therefore, if he who rules a principality cannot recognize evils until they are upon him, he is not truly wise; and this insight is given to few.

there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things, because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new

Presidential powers are not fixed but fluctuate, depending upon their disjunction or conjunction with those of Congress.

With all its defects, delays and inconveniences, men have discovered no technique for long preserving free government except that the Executive be under the law, and that the law be made by parliamentary deliberations.

Difficult and embarrassing questions meet us at the threshold of this subject.

It is during our most challenging and uncertain moments that our Nation's commitment to due process is most severely tested; and it is in those times that we must preserve our commitment at home to the principles for which we fight abroad.

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.

our responsibility is heavy, to ourselves, to the world as it is to-day, and to the generations yet unborn

Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him?

I advance with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make

When right, I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground.

I would have given anything then to have been back in Illinois, but I had not the moral courage to halt and consider what to do; I kept right on.

It is men who wait to be selected, and not those who seek, from whom we may always expect the most efficient service.

If I felt that there is to be sole responsibility in the Executive for the America of tomorrow I should shrink from the burden.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope.

If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.

We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.