“Giving one man all the power was bound to corrupt him and inflate his desires, leading him to follow his every whim and to persecute his subjects.”

“My job was not to persecute people for blasphemous advances of the sciences, or for heretical religious teachings.”

“Last week, we witnessed two fine examples of the extent to which anti-smoking zealots will go in order to hound and persecute smokers.”

“What we are seeing in this case is how an undemocratic system imprisons, persecutes and oppresses democrats.”

“The Kremlin welcomes the chance to portray Russia as a refuge for human-rights defenders, not a place that persecutes them.”

“If he cannot effect the destruction of that church by factiousness, he furiously persecutes it.”

“Representatives of his religion burned and persecuted witches in years gone by.”

“There hasn't been a time in modern history when gays haven't been persecuted.”

“He wibbles on about how people used to be persecuted by the Church for saying things about God and the earth going round Uranus and what not.”

“The most common symptom of paranoia is the belief that someone or something is persecuting you.”

“I have the greatest admiration for the man and there is no question of persecuting him.”

“I hope that you and the people will reserve judgment on me until the newspaper is done persecuting me.”