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Quotes about government

575 quotes from 235 people

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If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.
Samuel Adams1722–1803Letter to James Warren (24 October 1780)
He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of this country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man.
Samuel Adams1722–1803Essay published in The Advertiser (1748) and later reprinted in The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams, Volume 1 (1865), by William Vincent Wells
- Voting
I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.
Will Rogers1879–1935Ambassador of Good Will, Prince of Wit and Wisdom (1935)
A citizen of America will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won’t cross the street to vote in a national election.
BVBill Vaughan1915–1977
- Voting
I didn’t come to Washington to be loved and I haven’t been disappointed.
PGPhilip L. Gramm
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
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address (1961)
A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.
H. L. Mencken1880–1956A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949)
- Laws
Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption.
James A. Garfield1831–1881Speech on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence (4 July 1876)
Be thankful we’re not getting all the government we’re paying for.
Will Rogers1879–1935
Every step we take towards making the State our Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our Master.
Dwight D. Eisenhower1890–1969
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
Every government is a scoundrel.
H. L. Mencken1880–1956
There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult⁠—to begin a war and to end it.
Alexis de Tocqueville1805–1859Democracy in America, Volume II (1840), Book Three, Chapter XXII.
- Democracy
- War & Peace
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.
Abraham Lincoln1809–1865Definition of Democracy; see Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, vol. 2 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1953), p. 532
- Democracy
- Slavery