Government Quotes
Every culture has its distinctive and normal system of government. Yours is democracy, moderated by corruption. Ours is totalitarianism, moderated by assassination.Unknown Russian
What government is the best That which teaches us to govern ourselves.Johann von Goethe
It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.Ansel Adams
Its embarrassing, you try to overthrow the government and you wind up on a Best Sellers List.Abbie Hoffman, In response to the success of his book; Steal this Book
So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private citizens will occasionally kill their. s.Elbert Hubbard
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.Ronald Reagan
The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government they have only a talent for getting and holding office.H. L. Mencken
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.George Washington
Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.Alexander Hamilton
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our government but civilization itself.Gerald R. Ford, Inaugural Address, 9 August 1974
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.Thomas Jefferson
Many people consider the things which government does for them to be social progress, but they consider the things government does for others as socialism.Chief Justice Earl Warren
He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.Confucius, The Confucian Analects
The best government rests on the people, and not on the few, on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority.George Bancroft
All governments eventually lean further and further towards aristocracy.Frank Herbert, Dune
Public confidence in the integrity of the Government is indispensable to faith in democracy; and when we lose faith in the system, we have lost faith in everything we fight and spend for.Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.
The function of government ought to be: make sure you have good water to drink, somebody picking up the garbage, good roads to drive on, enough electricity to turn your light bulbs and your record player on, and whatever smaller amounts of regulatory assistance is necessary to make this society work.Frank Zappa, Interview with this submitter, New York City, 5/08/1980
When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.Herbert Clark Hoove
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive.Thomas Jefferson
The point to remember is what the government gives it must first take away.John S. Coleman
In rivers and bad governments, the lightest things swim at the top.Benjamin Franklin
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.Thomas Jefferson
Besides anarchy, the worst thing in this world is government.Henry Ward Beeche
The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg.Thomas Jefferson
And that this country shall have a new birth of freedom, and that this government, of the people, for the people, by the people, shall not perish from the Earth.Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
I love my government not least for the extent to which it leaves me alone.John Updike
The art of government is the organization of idolatry.George Bernard Shaw
Freedom of opinion can only exist when the government thinks itself secure.Bertrand Russell
The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments.William H. Borah
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.George Washington
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.John Adams
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.Thomas Paine, in his "The Rights of Man" (1791)
Democracy means government by the uneducated, while aristocracy means government by the badly educated.Gilbert Keith Chesterton
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.Thomas Jefferson
I make a fortune from criticizing the policy of the government, and then hand it over to the government in taxes to keep it going.George Bernard Shaw
It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia
A little rebellion now and then... is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Madison, 1787
