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Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

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But what is Government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?
James Madison1751–1836Federalist No. 51 (6 February 1788)In context
Religion & Govt. will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.
James Madison1751–1836Letter to Edward Livingston (10 July 1822)
- Religion
The legislative department is everywhere extending the sphere of its activity and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex.
James Madison1751–1836Federalist No. 48 (1 February 1788)
- Power
It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part.
James Madison1751–1836Federalist No. 51 (February 6, 1788)In context
- Justice
In addition to the teaching of truths the Law aims at the removal of injustice from mankind.
Maimonides1138–1204Guide for the Perplexed (c. 1190), Part III, Ch.32
- Justice
- Laws
It’s going to be the ballot or the bullet.
Malcolm X1925–1965“The Ballot or the Bullet” speech (1964)
- Guns
- Voting
I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy.
Malcolm X1925–1965Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
We must present democracy as a force holding within itself the seeds of unlimited progress by the human race.
George C. Marshall1880–1959Essentials to Peace (1953)
- Democracy
Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.
George C. Marshall1880–1959The Marshall Plan Speech (1947)
- War & Peace
To govern well, one must see things as they are.
José Martí1853–1895Our America (1891)
Knowing is what counts. To know one’s country and govern it with that knowledge is the only way to free it from tyranny.
José Martí1853–1895Our America (1891)
- Knowledge
The executive of the modern State is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.
Karl Marx1818–1883The Communist Manifesto (1848)In context
- Politics
Progress of human civilization in the area of defining human freedom is not made from the top down. No king, no parliament, no government ever extended to the people more rights than the people insisted upon.
Terence McKenna1946–2000“True Hallucinations” (1993)
- Freedom
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.
H. L. Mencken1880–1956“A Few Pages of Notes,” The Smart Set (January 1915)
- Democracy
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
H. L. Mencken1880–1956
- Freedom
- Laws