Government Quotes
It is the duty of every patriot to protect his country from its government.Thomas Paine
The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government, presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.George Washington
Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil in its worst state, an intolerable one.Thomas Paine
If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism if our government is to function it must have dissent.Henry Commage
The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.Henry David Thoreau
A revolution of government is the strongest proof that can be given by a people of their virtue and good sense.John Adams, (Diary, 1786)
No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.Edward Abbey
I bear solemn witness to the fact that NATO heads of state and of government meet only to go through the tedious motions of reading speeches, drafted by others, with the principal objective of not rocking the boat.Pierre Elliott Trudeau
People in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than governments.Dwight D Eisenhowe
When there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.Herbert Clark Hoove
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! It is a dangerous servant and a terrible master.George Washington
Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed.I. F. Stone
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.George Bernard Shaw
Every culture has its distinctive and normal system of government. Yours is democracy, moderated by corruption. Ours is totalitarianism, moderated by assassination.Unknown Russian
Religion... is the basis and foundation of government... before any man can be considered as a member of civil society, he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the Universe.James Madison
Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant, and a fearful master.George Washington
The art of government is the organization of idolatry.George Bernard Shaw
Democracy is a form of government in which it is permitted to wonder aloud what the country could do under first - Class management.Senator Soape
When you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.Harry S Truman
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
There is no legitimacy on earth but in a government which is the choice of the nation.Joseph Bonaparte
All governments eventually lean further and further towards aristocracy.Frank Herbert, Dune
It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.Ansel Adams
If our democracy is to flourish, it must have criticism; if our government is to function it must have dissent.Henry Commage
Judge of thine improvement, not by what thou speakest or writest, but by the firmness of thy mind, and the government of thy passions and affections.Thomas Fulle
Good government generally begins in the family, and if the moral character of a people once degenerate, their political character must soon follow.Elias Boudinot
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want - And their kids pay for it.Richard Lamm
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
Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all - wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.Sir Winston Churchill, Hansard, November 11, 1947
The one bonus of not lifting the ban on gays in the military is that the next time the government mandates a draft, we can all declare we are homosexual instead of running off to Canada.Lorne Bloch
The real object of those who resorted to Secession, as well as those who sustained it, was not to overthrow the Government of the United States but to perpetuate the principles upon which it was founded. The object in quitting the Union was not to destroy, but to save the principles of the Constitution.Alexander Hamilton Stephens
It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.Voltaire
So long as governments set the example of killing their enemies, private citizens will occasionally kill their. s.Elbert Hubbard
The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.Milton Friedman
If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.Frank Herbert, The Dosadi Experiment
It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.Sir Winston Churchill
The object of government in peace and in war is not the glory of rulers or of races, but the happiness of the common man.Lord William Beveridge
