A vegetarian is not a person who lives on vegetables, any more than a Catholic is a person who lives on cats.

Property, said Proudhon, is theft. This is the only perfect truism that has been uttered on the subject.

You may well ask me why...I took the time to write [books]. I can only reply that I do not know. There was no why about it. I had to: that was all.

Hell is full of musical amateurs.

The art of manipulating public opinion, which is a necessary art for the democratic politician, and, like other arts, is sometimespractised with greater virtuosity by knaves than by honest men (who are apt to disdain it), has a different technique in different countries. For instance, in England we excel in whitewashing: in America they excel in tarring and feathering. We strain our nerves and stretch our consciences to avoid a scandal: Americans do the same to make one.

To make Democracy work, you need an aristocratic democracy. To make Aristocracy work, you need a democratic aristocracy.

It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.