I'm proud that I'm a politician. A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to read more

I'm proud that I'm a politician. A politician is a man who understands government, and it takes a politician to run a government. A statesman is a politician who's been dead 10 or 15 years.

The part of our social order which can or ought to be made a conscious product of human reason is read more

The part of our social order which can or ought to be made a conscious product of human reason is only a small part of all the forces of society.

To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.

To be a leader of men one must turn one's back on men.

I wonder how many of the people who profess to believe in the leveling ideas of collectivism and egalitarianism really read more

I wonder how many of the people who profess to believe in the leveling ideas of collectivism and egalitarianism really just believe that they themselves are good for nothing. I mean, how many leftists are animated by a quite reasonable self-loathing? In their hearts they know that they are not going to become scholars or inventors or industrialists or even ordinary good kind people. So they need a way to achieve that smugness for which the left is so justifiably famous. They need a way to achieve self-esteem without merit. Well, there is politics. In an egalitarian world everything will be controlled by politics, and politics requires no merit.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

...the differences between the conservative and the radical seem to spring mainly from their attitude toward the future. Fear of read more

...the differences between the conservative and the radical seem to spring mainly from their attitude toward the future. Fear of the future causes us to lean against and cling to the present, while faith in the future renders us receptive to change.

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best.

Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best.

...one of the most notable characteristics of any Age of Conflict is the effort to achieve economic expansion by political read more

...one of the most notable characteristics of any Age of Conflict is the effort to achieve economic expansion by political rather than by economic means.