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Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

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A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Democracy
- Wisdom
Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Justice
- Laws
Why has every man a conscience, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Morality
The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- War & Peace
All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Morality
- Voting
The State never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
I heartily accept the motto,⁠—“That government is best which governs least;” and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe⁠—“That government is best which governs not at all;” and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Freedom
Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then?
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Laws
- Morality
It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Laws
- Morality
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Justice
- Laws
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Justice
There will never be a really free and enlightened State, until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly.
Henry David Thoreau1817–1862Civil Disobedience (1849)In context
- Freedom
The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856), p. 214
What is the most important for democracy is not that great fortunes should not exist, but that great fortunes should not remain in the same hands. In that way there are rich men, but they do not form a class.
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859
- Democracy
- Money