Famously Said Random quote

Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

Most readBy personPage 37 of 39

In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury.
Thomas Jefferson1743–1826The Declaration of Independence (1776)In context
- Justice
America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.
Katharine Lee Bates1859–1929America the Beautiful (1895)In context
Nor did I deem that thou, a mortal man,
Could’st by a breath annul and override
The immutable unwritten laws of Heaven.
They were not born today nor yesterday;
They die not; and none knoweth whence they sprang.
Sophocles496–406 BCAntigone (c. 441 BC), spoken by AntigoneIn context
What evils are not wrought by Anarchy!
She ruins States, and overthrows the home,
She dissipates and routs the embattled host;
While discipline preserves the ordered ranks.
Sophocles496–406 BCAntigone (c. 441 BC), spoken by CreonIn context
- Leadership
All rights and laws are still transmitted
Like an eternal sickness of the race,⁠—
From generation unto generation fitted,
And shifted round from place to place.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe1749–1832Faust (1808), Scene IV, spoken by MephistophelesIn context
- Laws
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
They look upon fraud as a greater crime than theft, and therefore seldom fail to punish it with death; for they allege, that care and vigilance, with a very common understanding, may preserve a man’s goods from thieves, but honesty has no defence against superior cunning
Jonathan Swift1667–1745Gulliver’s Travels (1726), Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput, Chapter VIIn context
- Laws
- Truth & Lies
If a governor comes out of his government rich, they say he has been a thief; and if he comes out poor, that he has been a noodle and a blockhead.
Miguel de Cervantes1547–1616Don Quixote (1605–1615), Part II, Chapter LVIn context
- Politics
Do as adversaries do in law,
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
William Shakespeare1564–1616The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1591), Act I, Scene II, spoken by TranioIn context
What is the city but the people?
William Shakespeare1564–1616Coriolanus (c. 1608), Act III, Scene I, spoken by SiciniusIn context
- Democracy
- Politics
The real significance of crime is in its being a breach of faith with the community of mankind
Joseph Conrad1857–1924Lord Jim (1900), Chapter 14In context
- Justice
- Laws
Every human institution (justice included) will stretch a little, if you only pull it the right way.
Wilkie Collins1824–1889The Moonstone (1868), First Period: The Loss of the Diamond (1848), Chapter XIIn context
- Justice
- Laws
Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book III, Chapter XVIn context
- Laws
As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State What does it matter to me? the State may be given up for lost.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book III, Chapter XVIn context
- Politics
- Responsibility
Every law the people has not ratified in person is null and void⁠—is, in fact, not a law.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778The Social Contract (1762), Book III, Chapter XVIn context
- Democracy
- Laws