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Government quotes

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“The government, which was designed for the people, has got into the hands of bosses and their employers, the special interests. An invisible empire has been set up above the forms of democracy.” Woodrow Wilson, “The New Freedom” - 1913

“But we must remember that good laws, if they are not obeyed, do not constitute good government.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is, in reality, instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.” Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations” - 1776

“Equality consists in the same treatment of similar persons, and no government can stand which is not founded upon justice.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“It runs as follows: The State is made for man, not man for the State.” Albert Einstein, “The world as I see it” - 1949

“The preservation of freedom is the protective reason for limiting and decentralizing governmental power.” Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” - 1962

“In our civilization, and under our republican form of government, brain is so highly honored that it is rewarded by exemption from the cares of office.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1906

“The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest.” Thomas Jefferson, “A Summary View of the Rights of British America” - 1774

“There is no art which one government sooner learns of another, than that of draining money from the pockets of the people.” Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations” - 1776

“Were there a people of gods, their government would be democratic. So perfect a government is not for men.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1835

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.” Thomas Jefferson, “Notes on the State of Virginia” - 1785

“For governing a country well there is nothing better than moderation.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” Mark Twain, “Following the Equator” - 1897

“A constitution is the arrangement of magistracies in a state, especially of the highest of all. The government is everywhere sovereign in the state, and the constitution is in fact the government.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“The position now taken by the Government is absolutely destructive of legitimate business, because they outline no rule of conduct for business of any magnitude.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography” - 1913

“It is preposterous to suppose that the people of one generation can lay down the best and only rules of government for all who are to come after them, and under unforeseen contingencies.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise.” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“One of the principles whose application was the source of much hostility was this: It is better for the Government to help a poor man to make a living for his family than to help a rich man make more profit for his company.” Theodore Roosevelt, “Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography” - 1913

“If there are men in this country big enough to own the government of the United States, they are going to own it; what we have to determine now is whether we are big enough, whether we are men enough, whether we are free enough, to take...” Woodrow Wilson, “The New Freedom” - 1913

“The only true world solution today is governments guided by true religion—of the spirit.” Malcolm X, “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” - 1965

“It is the purpose of government to see that not only the legitimate interests of the few are protected, but that the welfare and rights of the many are conserved.” Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Looking Forward” - 1933

“The fact is that the Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment, was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.” Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” - 1962

“Imagine all contradictions, all possible incompatibilities—you will find them in the government, in the law-courts, in the churches, in the public shows of this droll nation.” Voltaire, “Candide” - 1759

“Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows, that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others.” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered; and the easier repaired when disordered; and with this maxim in view,...” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“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, “Analects”

“For monarchy in every instance is the Popery of government.” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“The trouble with the theory is that government is not a machine, but a living thing.” Woodrow Wilson, “The New Freedom” - 1913

“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forc'd by...” Benjamin Franklin, “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” - 1791

“The great advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government. Columbus did not set out to seek a new route to China in response to a...” Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” - 1962

“Now it is evident that the form of government is best in which every man, whoever he is, can act best and live happily.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“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, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Ronald Reagan, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 1981

“Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

“For if liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.” Aristotle, “Politics”

“The Government is unresponsive to the needs of the little man. Under five-seven, it is impossible to get your Congressman on the phone.” Woody Allen, “Side Effects” - 1980

“The whole difference is that, in the family, the love of the father for his children repays him for the care he takes of them, while, in the State, the pleasure of commanding takes the place of the love which the chief cannot have for the peoples...” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“It is solely on the basis of this common interest that every society should be governed.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“And as a man, who is attached to a prostitute, is unfitted to choose or judge a wife, so any prepossession in favour of a rotten constitution of government will disable us from discerning a good one.” Thomas Paine, “Common Sense” - 1776

“religion, and not fear, has ever been the cause of the long-lived prosperity of an absolute government.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1835

“All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.” Ronald Reagan, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 1981

“My friends, some years ago, the Federal Government declared war on poverty, and poverty won.” Ronald Reagan, “State of the Union Address” - 25 January 1988

“In a word, it is the best and most natural arrangement that the wisest should govern the many, when it is assured that they will govern for its profit, and not for their own.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract” - 1762

“Good government should maintain the balance where every individual may have a place if he will take it, where every individual may find safety if he wishes it, where every individual may attain such power as his ability permits, consistent with...” Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Looking Forward” - 1933

“That government is best which governs least” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience” - 1849

Related topics

democracy freedom people power religion justice state constitution wisdom leadership equality law politics action interest obedience liberty property rule welfare

Related authors

Thomas Paine (7)
Henry David Thoreau (6)
Aristotle (5)
Thomas Jefferson (5)
Milton Friedman (5)
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (4)
Ronald Reagan (4)
Adam Smith (3)
Lao Tzu (3)
Woodrow Wilson (3)
Albert Einstein (2)
Theodore Roosevelt (2)
Alexis de Tocqueville (2)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (2)
George W. Bush (2)
Mark Twain (1)
George Orwell (1)
Benjamin Franklin (1)
Malcolm X (1)
Confucius (1)

Related sources

Common Sense (7)
Civil Disobedience (6)
Politics (5)
Capitalism and Freedom (5)
The Social Contract (4)
Inaugural Address (4)
Notes on the State of Virginia (4)
State of the Union Address (3)
The Wealth of Nations (3)
Tao Te Ching (3)
The New Freedom (3)
The world as I see it (2)
Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography (2)
Democracy in America (2)
Looking Forward (2)
1984 (1)
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (1)
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1)
Analects (1)
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (1)