One of the symptoms of a declining social order is that its members have to give most of their time to politics, rather than to the real tasks of economic production, in an attempt to patch up the cracks already appearing from the 'inner contradictions' of such a system.

The political process is not tied to any particular doctrine. Genuine political doctrines, rather, are the attempt to find particular and workable solutions to this perpetual and shifty problem of conciliation.

Democracy is perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public affairs.

The plain truth is that what holds a free state together is neither general will nor a common interest, but simply politics itself.

The agony of international relations is the need to try to practice politics without the basic conditions for political order.

Politics deserves much praise. Politics is a preoccupation of free men, and its existence is a test of freedom. The praise of free men is worth having, for it is the only praise which is free from either servility or condescension.

Politics is a way of ruling in divided societies without undue violence...politics is not just a necessary evil; it is a realistic good.