Carl Schmitt

"Theory without practice is sterile; practice without theory is blind."

"The state of siege suspends the normal order of law."

"Rhetoric is central to political existence."

"Technology has not eliminated the necessity for political decision."

"The question of legitimacy is prior to all other legal questions."

"Absolutes cannot be grounded in relativism."

"History is not a process of inevitable progress."

"The nature of the enemy cannot be predetermined."

"Order requires the suppression of chaos, but not its elimination."

"Representation is always political, never merely technical."

"The social contract is a fiction invented by liberals."

"Every legal system rests on a decision that transcends legality."

"Pluralism is the death of politics."

"The exception reveals the truth about sovereignty."

"Concepts have a history; they cannot be used innocently."

"Victory requires understanding the nature of the enemy."

"Democratic theory has never successfully resolved the problem of representation."

"Peace is not the absence of conflict but its suspension."

"The state emerges from the need for security, not from reason."

"Aesthetics and politics are intimately connected."

"All political concepts contain theological remnants."

"The homogeneous state is a modern invention."

"Liberalism has proven incapable of defending itself against its enemies."

"The exception cannot be legislated in advance."

"Every constitution embodies a particular worldview."

"The decision is an act of will, not understanding."

"Politics cannot be reduced to economics."

"Mythology precedes rationality in all human affairs."

"The test of truth is whether it can survive contradiction."

"Authority without charisma is merely bureaucratic machinery."