Ambrose Bierce Quotes

No man is big enough to run this great republic.

America cannot have an empire abroad and a Republic at home.

At Athens, wise men propose, and fools dispose.

Democracy, loudly upheld as a cure for much of the ailing world, has proved no guarantor of political wisdom, even if it remains the least bad form of government.

Now one of two things is true: Either a republic is a desirable form of government, or else it is not.

Our city shall have no more kings!

There never was that government called a republic, which was not ultimately ruled by a single will, and, therefore, (however bold may seem the paradox,) virtually and substantially a monarchy.

No man is good enough to govern another without the other man's consent. I say this is the leading principle, the sheet anchor of American republicanism. … the just powers of governments are derived from the consent of the governed.

Government is not the enemy. Government is simply a tool that can be used wisely or unwisely.

A republic is little better than a government of devils

Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people in order to betray them.

Mankind will never see an end of trouble until... lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power... become lovers of wisdom

When one person can initiate war, by its definition, a republic no longer exists.

A state would be happy where philosophers were kings or kings were philosophers.

To enter upon rulership of a country but not preserve its scholars will result in the downfall of the country.

Citizens do not just make up and preserve a Republic; they are its ultimate stakeholders and in fact pillars.

It certainly seems to me we would like to bring in the best and the brightest individuals here to participate in this republic.

Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils - no, nor the human race, as I believe - and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day.

All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the rest in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest.

I go by the great republican principle, that the people will have the virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom [to the offices of government].

When a man begins to feel that he is the only one who can lead in this republic, he is guilty of treason to the spirit of our institutions.

Everybody in the world is capable of democratic development. Some people in the world are unlucky enough to get stuck with really bad political leadership and with really bad political institutions.

In order that a people may be free, it is necessary that the governed be sages, and those who govern, gods.

"Government," says Swift, "is a plain thing, and fitted to the capacity of many heads."

The fate of America cannot depend on any one man. The greatness of America is grounded in principles and not on any single personality.