Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

Most readBy personPage 27 of 39

There is no one who ever acts honestly in the administration of states, nor any helper who will save any one who maintains the cause of the just.
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic, 496d
Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils,⁠—nor the human race, as I believe
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book VIn context
- Leadership
- Philosophy
Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike.
Plato429–349 BCThe Republic (c. 375 BC), Book VIIIIn context
- Democracy
Let us consider the reason of the case. For nothing is law that is not reason.
JPJohn Powell1645–1713Coggs vs. Bernard, Lord Raymond, 911, reported in Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
- Laws
There is no one to talk to since Mahatma Gandhi died.
Vladimir Putinborn 1952Responding to a question “Former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called you a ‘pure democrat’. Do you consider yourself such?” June 4, 2007
- Democracy
- Politics
When I say “capitalism,” I mean a full, pure, uncontrolled, unregulated laissez-faire capitalism⁠—with a separation of state and economics, in the same way and for the same reasons as the separation of state and church.
Ayn Rand1905–1982The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)
- Economics
“Free competition enforced by law” is a grotesque contradiction in terms.
Ayn Rand1905–1982“Antitrust: The Rule of Unreason,” The Objectivist Newsletter (February 1962) p. 1
- Economics
- Laws
In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address (1981)
The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004
- Business
We’ve been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of government himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else?
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address (1981)
Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Bush-Reagan Debate 1980 on Taxes at League of Women Voters. (24 April 1980) · video footage
As government expands, liberty contracts.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004Ronald Reagan’s Farewell Address (1989)
- Liberty
Outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004
A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004
I think the best possible social program is a job.
Ronald Reagan1911–2004