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Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

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The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.
Thomas Jefferson1743–1826
From such beginnings of governments, what could be expected, but a continual system of war and extortion?
Thomas Paine1737–1809
The contest for ages has been to rescue liberty from the grasp of executive power.
Daniel Webster1782–1852Speech in the Senate (27 May 1834), on President Andrew Jackson’s protest, The Works of Daniel Webster, 10th edition (1857), Vol. 4, p. 133
- Liberty
When dictatorship is a fact, revolution becomes a right.
Victor Hugo1802–1885
Where there is a lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned.
Herbert Hoover1874–1964
- Morality
Socialism: An attempt to curb the destructive power of monopolies by creating the biggest one of all.
?Unattributed
Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
Benjamin Franklin1706–1790Poor Richard’s Almanack
- Laws
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)
A man may be loyal to his government and yet oppose the particular principles and methods of administration.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Attributed to Abraham Lincoln. W. T. Roche, address at Washington, Kansas, April 9, 1942: “These words were spoken by Lincoln, then a Congressman, in defense of his condemnation of President Polk for provoking the Mexican War.” Congressional Record
The Social Contract is nothing more or less than a vast conspiracy of human beings to lie to and humbug themselves and one another for the general good. Lies are the mortar that bind the savage individual man into the social masonry.
H. G. Wells1866–1946Love and Mr Lewisham (1899), Ch. 23
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
The great thing about democracy is that it gives every voter a chance to do something stupid.
ASArt Spander
- Democracy
- Voting
In the counsels of Government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the Military Industrial Complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes.
Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961)
Civilization is the encouragement of differences. Civilization thus becomes a synonym of democracy. Force, violence, pressure, or compulsion with a view to conformity, is both uncivilized and undemocratic.
Mahatma Gandhi1869–1948
- Democracy
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.
POP. J. O'Rourke1947–2022
- Luck