Simón Bolívar Quotes

El arte de vencer se aprende en las derrotas

The first duty of a government is to give education to the people

Ako sa dostanem z toho labyrintu?!

How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!

De lo heroico a lo ridículo no hay más que un paso.

A state too expensive in itself, or by virtue of its dependencies, ultimately falls into decay; its free government is transformed into a tyranny; it disregards the principles which it should preserve, and finally degenerates into despotism. The distinguishing characteristic of small republics is stability: the character of large republics is mutability.

Beware the nation in which one man rules, for it is a nation of slaves.

Colombians! My last wish is for the happiness of the patria. If my death contributes to the end of partisanship and the consolidation of the union, I shall be lowered in peace into my grave.

Damn it! How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?

The shouts of human-kind on the battlefield, or in the tumult of assemblies are protests to heaven against inconsistent legislators who have thought it possible to experiment with chimerical constitutions without suffering the consequences

Absolute democratic government is as much a tyranny as despotism.

The three greatest fools of History have been Jesus Christ, Don Quixote . . . and me!

Among the popular and representative systems of government I do not approve of the federal system: it is too perfect; and it requires virtues and political talents much superior to our own.

un estado demasiado extenso en sí mismo o por sus dependencias, al cabo viene en decadencia y convierte su forma libre en otra tiránica; relaja los principios que deben conservarla y ocurre, por último, al despotismo.

Let the entire system of government be strengthened, and let the balance of power be drawn up in such a manner that it will be permanent and incapable of decay because of its own tenuity. Precisely because no form of government is so weak as the democratic, its framework must be firmer, and its institutions must be studied to determine their degree of stability … unless this is done, we will have to reckon with an ungovernable, tumultuous, and anarchic society, not with a social order where happiness, peace, and justice prevail.