Quotes about Government

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have."

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth."

"In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it."

"Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives."

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

"Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective."

"It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

"Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper."

"It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting."

"Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage."

"The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government."

"This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it."

"The essence of good government is trust."

"It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government."

"No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent."

"Bureaucracy gives birth to itself and then expects maternity benefits."

"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."

"Free enterprise makes people prosperous, all people prosperous, and big government makes people poorer."

"The worst evils which mankind has ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments."

"Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."

"You don't pay taxes - they take taxes."

"National sovereignty is an obligation as well as an entitlement. A government that will not perform the role of a government forfeits the rights of a government."

"Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellow men."

"The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

"We have the best government that money can buy."

"Socialism means slavery. -John Dalberg"

"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?"

"I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government."

"Democracy must learn to defend itself."