"The law is necessarily more lax than morality"

Leo Strauss. What is political philosophy?

". . . minimum quod potest haberi de cognitione rerum altissimarum, desiderabilius est quam certissima cognitio quae habetur de minimis rebus . . . ."

". . . the least knowledge that may be obtained of the highest things is more desirable than the most certain knowledge obtained of the lowest things . . . .

Sant Tomàs d'Aquino. Summa Theologica I, q. 1, art. 5

"By hating vices too much, they come to love men too little"

Edmund Burke. Reflections on the Revolution in France

"To make a revolution is a measure that, prima fronte, requires an apology"

Edmund Burke. Reflections on the Revolution in France

"Tyranny is always better organized than freedom"

Charles Péguy

"The facts of life are conservative"

Margaret Tatcher

"In politics, idealisme is frequently no more than an excuse for not recognizing unpleasant realities"

Hannah Arendt. Thoughts on politics and revolution

"La democracia es dos lobos y una oveja votando sobre qué se va a comer. La Libertad es la oveja, armada, impugnando el resultado."

Benjamin Franklin

"The basic law of politics is that unanticipated consequences are always more important than the anticipated consequences of your actions"

Irving Kristol. The neoconservative persuasion