Quotes about government
575 quotes from 235 people
Jorge Luis Borges1899–1986Statement to the Argentine Society of Letters (c.1946)
Willy Brandt1913–1992Government policy statement to the Bundestag (28 October 1969)The prosperity of a country can be seen simply in how it treats its old people.
Bertolt Brecht1898–1956The Threepenny Opera (1928), Act 3, scene 1 (Peachum)It is better to be a total failure in democracy than a martyr or the crème de la crème in tyranny.
Joseph Brodsky1940–1996Nobel Prize Lecture (8 December 1987)The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.
William F. Buckley Jr.1925–2008Windfall: The End of the Affair (1992).- William F. Buckley Jr.1925–20081963 statement, as quoted in Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier (2006), p. 82
Edmund Burke1729–1797Speech at Bristol Previous to the Election (6 September 1780), quoted in The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. II (1855), p. 148A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation.
Edmund Burke1729–1797Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)- Edmund Burke1729–1797Second Speech on Conciliation with America (1775)
- Edmund Burke1729–1797From the Tracts Relative to the Laws Against Popery in Ireland (c. 1766), not published during Burke’s lifetime.
- Edmund Burke1729–1797Letter to Thomas Mercer
To tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.
Edmund Burke1729–1797First Speech on the Conciliation with America (1774)- Edmund Burke1729–1797Thoughts and Details on Scarcity (1795)