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Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

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The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.
H. L. Mencken1880–1956“Le Contrat Social”, in: Prejudices: Third Series (1922)
- Thinking
The Constitution of the United States was made not merely for the generation that then existed, but for posterity⁠—unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity.
Henry Clay1777–1852Speech, Senate (29 January 1850)
- America
- Laws
As against the “invisible hand” of Adam Smith, there has to be a visible hand of politicians whose objective is to have the kind of society that is caring and humane.
Pierre Trudeau1919–2000Memoirs (1993), Part 3, 1974—1979 Victory And Defeat, p. 190
- Economics
When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength.
Donald Trumpborn 1946Interview with Glenn Plaskin, Playboy (March 1990)
- Power
However sugarcoated and ambiguous, every form of authoritarianism must start with a belief in some group’s greater right to power, whether that right is justified by sex, race, class, religion or all four.
Gloria Steinem1934–2026“If Hitler Were Alive, Whose Side Would He Be On?” in M.S. magazine (October-November 1980)
- Power
A functioning police state needs no police.
William S. Burroughs1914–1997Naked Lunch (1959), “Benway”, p. 31
- Power
Congress seems drugged and inert most of the time.
Shirley Chisholm1924–2005Unbought and Unbossed (1970), p. 104.
- Politics
The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.
Donald Trumpborn 1946Tweets on November 6 and 7, 2012, some of which were later deleted
- Democracy
- Voting
A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy.
G. K. Chesterton1874–1936The Everlasting Man (1925)
- Democracy
Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
We are all imperfect. We can not expect perfect government.
William Howard Taft1857–1930Address at a banquet given by the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce of Washington, D.C., May 8, 1909.; found in Presidential Addresses and State Papers of William Howard Taft, vol. 1, chapter 7, p. 82 (1910).
Propaganda is the executive arm of the invisible government.
Edward Bernays1891–1995Propaganda (1928), p. 48
- Power
Today, freedom is on the offensive, democracy is on the march.
Douglas MacArthur1880–1964Victory broadcast (1945)
- Democracy
- Freedom
Britain is basically Pompeii if Pompeii had voted for the volcano.
John Oliverborn 1977Last Week Tonight (2014–present), On Brexit.
The state in some measure had civilized man, but who would civilize the state?
Will Durant1885–1981VI—The Reformation (1957), Chapter 6, p. 229