The best history is but like the art of Rembrandt; it casts a vivid light on certain selected causes, on those which were best and greatest; it leaves all the rest in shadow and unseen.

Not only does a bureaucracy tend to under-government in point of quality; it tends to over-government in point of quantity.

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards

Dullness in matters of government is a good sign, and not a bad one - in particular, dullness in parliamentary government is a test of its excellence, an indication of its success.

A democratic despotism is like a theocracy: it assumes its own correctness.

The maxim of science is simply that of common sense-simple cases first; begin with seeing how the main force acts when there is as little as possible to impede it, and when you thoroughly comprehend that, add to it in succession the separate effects of each of the incumbering and interfering agencies.

The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.