Thomas Hobbes

“A democracy is no more than an aristocracy of orators. The people are so readily moved by demagogues that control must be exercised by the government over speech and press.”

“Covenants without swords are but words.”

“How could a state be governed, or protected in its foreign relations, if every individual remained free to obey or not to obey the law according to his private opinion?”

“The reputation of power is power.”

“The world is governed by opinion.”