A quote from Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary:
"POLITICS, n. A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage."
"PREROGATIVE, n. A sovereign's right to do wrong."
"DIPLOMACY, n. The patriotic art of lying for one's country."
"RAREBIT, n. A Welsh rabbit, in the speech of the humorless, who point out that it is not a rabbit. To whom it may be solemnly explained that the comestible known as toad-in-a-hole is really not a toad, and that riz-de-veau a la financiere is not the smile of a calf prepared after the recipe of a she banker."
"PRESIDENT, n. The leading figure in a small group of men of whom — and of whom only — it is positively known that immense numbers of their countrymen did not want any of them for President."