quotations about government
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
RONALD REAGAN
remarks to the White House Conference on Small Business, Aug. 15, 1986
The Federal Government is rendered weak to do wrong, and powerful to do right: for, as soon as it begins to go wrong, it naturally begins to be divided against itself, and the three great wheels of its machinery exhaust their momentum, or wear each other out, in their friction against each other; while, as soon as it begins to go right, all the parts work harmoniously, and exhaust their full strength on the object of their action.
WILLIAM BATCHELDER GREENE
Socialistic
A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a 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
letter to W. T. Barry, Aug. 4, 1822
In theory, the government of a free people is not one which shall in all circumstances govern, but one that shall effectually govern while it is maintaining right against wrong, and shall begin to fall in pieces as soon as it begins to maintain wrong against right. No country is truly free whose constitution does not furnish the citizen with protection against the wrong-doing of other citizens, and also guarantee him against the wrong-doing of the government itself. No oppressor is so intolerable as an oppressive government; for the private oppressor acts with his own force only, while the governmental oppressor acts with the irresistible force of the whole people.
WILLIAM BATCHELDER GREENE
Socialistic
Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Notes on Virginia
Government has almost always been a barrier against which intellect has had to struggle; and society has made its chief progress by the minds of private individuals, who have outstripped their rulers, and gradually shamed them into truth and wisdom.
WILLIAM E. CHANNING
Thoughts
A government may endure for several ages, though the balance of power and the balance of property do not coincide. This chiefly happens where any rank or order of the state has acquired a large share in the property; but, from the original constitution of the government, has no share in the power. Under what pretence would any individual of that order assume authority in public affairs? As men are commonly much attached to their ancient government, it is not to be expected, that the public would ever favour such usurpations. But where the original constitution allows any share of power, though small, to an order of men who possess a large share of property, it is easy for them gradually to stretch their authority, and bring the balance of power to coincide with that of property.
DAVID HUME
"Of the First Principles of Government", Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary
All governments require enemy governments.
EDWARD ABBEY
A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
So long as honest men neglect to vote;
So long as good men leave the cares of state
To weak, incompetent, or careless hands,
Or place them in the grip of scheming knaves,
Our safety is imperiled. Every man
On Freedom's ramparts must a warder be,
To warn of danger when the foe appears;
To meet the onset when the foe assaults.
Else--vain our hopes, and else the temple grand,
Of all our rights, and birth-right liberties,
Ere long will fall, and crumble in the dust,
A ruin, more abject and dire than Rome
Or Carthage was.
ANDREW DOWNING
"A Picture"
Ceremonies are the first thing to be attended to in the practice of government.
CONFUCIUS
The Wisdom of Confucius
Government is the most dangerous institution known to man. Throughout history it has violated the rights of men more than any individual or group of individuals could do: it has killed people, enslaved them, sent them to forced labor and concentration camps, and regularly robbed and pillaged them of the fruits of their expended labor.
JOHN HOSPERS
The Libertarian Alternative
All government is an ugly necessity.
G. K. CHESTERTON
A Short History of England
The federal government has never been known for its sense of humor.
LAURELL K. HAMILTON
Obsidian Butterfly
The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.
JAMES MADISON
speech at Virginia State Convention, Dec. 2, 1829
We are not to expect perfection in this world; but mankind, in modern times, have apparently made some progress in the science of government.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to the Marquis de Lafayette, Feb. 7, 1788
I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason, to follow the course that he knows is best for the State; and as for the man who sets private friendship above the public welfare -- I have no use for him either.
SOPHOCLES
Antigone
The government's monopoly is what has allowed it to produce so bad a product for so long.
DAVID R. HENDERSON
The Joy of Freedom
A government must govern, must prescribe and enforce laws within its sphere or cease to be a government. Moreover, the individual must be independent and free within his own sphere or cease to be an individual. The fundamental question ... is now, and always will be through what adjustments, by what actions, these principles may be applied.
CALVIN COOLIDGE
speech, May 30, 1924
In early times the quantity of government is much more important than its quality. What you want is a comprehensive rule binding men together, making them do much the same things, telling them what to expect of each other--fashioning them alike, and keeping them so. What this rule is does not matter so much. A good rule is better than a bad one, but any rule is better than none; while, for reasons which a jurist will appreciate, none can be very good. But to gain that rule, what may be called the impressive elements of a polity are incomparably more important than its useful elements. How to get the obedience of men is the hard problem; what you do with that obedience is less critical.
WALTER BAGEHOT
Physics and Politics
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to Colonel Charles Yancey, January 6, 1816