Government Quotes
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men the great difficulty lies in this You must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.Alexander Hamilton
A democratic government is only as strong as the alert conscience of its people.Charles W. Tobey
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
No dictator, no invader, can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power, governments and tyrants and armies cannot stand. The Centauri learned this lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.J. Michael Straczynski
I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.Dwight D Eisenhowe
Ed, we just witnessed a peaceful transition in government. Do you realize how miraculous that is... Today, tiny Cicely, Alaska, stood up and put another W in the win category for democracy.Jeff Melvoin
We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.Thomas Jefferson
If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.Thomas Jefferson
The art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of the citizens to give to the other.Voltaire
Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.Nadia Boulange
That government is best which governs least. - From Civil Disobedience.Henry David Thoreau
If men were angels, no government would be necessary.James Madison
If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government - - And a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.Edward Abbey
In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens to give to the other.Voltaire, The Portable Voltaire
All government - - Indeed, every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act - - Is founded on compromise and barter.Edmund Burke, Speech on the Conciliation of America
The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.Ronald Reagan
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply, ... finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.George Washington, First Inaugural Address, Apr. 30, 1789
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.Edward Abbey
Those who want the Government to regulate matters of the mind and spirit are like men who are so afraid of being murdered that they commit suicide to avoid assassination.Harry S Truman
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.Thomas Jefferson
All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.James Abram Garfield
A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.Barry Goldwate
There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action.Bertrand Russell
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is in prison.Henry David Thoreau
Government can easily exist without laws, but law cannot exist without government.Bertrand Russell
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered... deeply... finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.George Washington
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)
So they the Government go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all - Powerful to be impotent.Sir Winston Churchill, Hansard, November 12, 1936
A government is the only known vessel that leaks from the top.James Reston
The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government is to live under the government of worse men.Plato, The Republic
The Second Amendment reveals a profound principle of American government - The principle of civilian ascendency over the military.William Orville Douglas
The biggest lesson I learned from Vietnam is not to trust our own government statements. I had no idea until then that you could not rely on them.William Fullbright
A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to Farce, or a Tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.James Madison
One of these days, the people are going to demand peace of the government, and the government is going to have to give it to them.Dwight Eisenhowe
Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking.Clement Atlee
As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality.George Washington
A great writer is, so to speak, a second government in his country. And for that reason no regime has ever loved great writers, only minor ones.Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
