Government Quotes - Page 18

• Potentially, a government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.

  Ayn Rand

  Men, Rights, Use

  Ayn Rand (1964). “The Virtue of Selfishness”, p.94, Penguin

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• A pure democracy is a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person.

  James Madison

  Patriotic, Small Numbers, Democracy

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1852). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution: Written in 1788”, p.53

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• Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Sometimes

  Henry David Thoreau (2014). “Citizen Thoreau: Walden, Civil Disobedience, Life Without Principle, Slavery in Massachusetts, A Plea for Captain John Brown”, p.197, Graphic Arts Books

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• A Conservative Government is an organized hypocrisy.

  Benjamin Disraeli

  Hypocrisy, Political, Politics

  'Hansard' 17 March 1845, col. 1028. Bagehot, quoting Disraeli in 'The English Constitution' (1867) 'The House of Lords', elaborated on the theme with the words 'so much did the ideas of its "head" differ from the sensations of its "tail".'

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• Hope nothing from foreign governments. They will never be really willing to aid you until you have shown that you are strong enough to conquer without them.

  Giuseppe Mazzini

  Strong, Conquer, Enough

  Giuseppe Mazzini (1872). “Joseph Mazzini His Life, Writings, and Political Principles”, p.92

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• The people are the only legitimate fountain of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter, under which the several branches of government hold their power, is derived.

  James Madison

  People, Liberty, Branches

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay (1852). “The Federalist, on the New Constitution: Written in 1788”, p.273

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• In a healthy nation there is a kind of dramatic balance between the will of the people and the government, which prevents its degeneration into tyranny.

  Albert Einstein

  People, Healthy, Balance

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  Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

  James Madison

  Education, Wisdom, Freedom

  1822; cited in U.S. Senate, Alleged Assassination Plots (1975).

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• Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

  James Madison

  Men, Political, Liberty

  James Madison (1867). “1829-1836”, p.478

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• With respect to the words "general welfare," I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.

  James Madison

  Character, Liberty, Details

  James Madison's letter to James Robertson, April 20, 1831.

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• It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

  James Madison

  Patriotic, Men, Law

  The Federalist no. 62 (1788).

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• I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.

  Alexander Woollcott

  Tired, Democracy, Hearing

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• What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.

  James Madison

  Nature, Patriotic, Angel

  1788 The Federalist, Jan.

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• Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.

  Will Rogers

  Funny, Sarcastic, Book

  "The Wordsworth Dictionary of Quotations". Book by Connie Robertson, 1996.

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• Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?

  Will Rogers

  Rome, House, Conservative

  "Dreams Come Due: Government and Economics as If Freedom Mattered". Book by John Galt, p. 235, 1986.

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• Government is an unnecessary evil.

  Jeff Berwick

  Evil, Unnecessary

  "Jeff Berwick: Systematic Market Crash to Occur on September 13th, 2015". Interview with Collin Kettell, www.kitco.com. June 2, 2015.

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• The declaration that our People are hostile to a government made by themselves, for themselves, and conducted by themselves, is an insult.

  John Quincy Adams

  People, Insult, Made

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• There is no such thing as a false idea.

  William J. Brennan

  Ideas

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• Not stones, nor wood, nor the art of artisans make a state; but where men are who know how to take care of themselves, these are cities and walls.

  John Quincy Adams

  Art, Wall, Men

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  Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

  Thomas Paine

  Motivation, War, 4th Of July

  Common Sense (1776)

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• I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Mean, Thinking, Way

  Benjamin Franklin (1839). “Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin”, p.85

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• Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.293, Princeton University Press

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• In my youth, I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

  Benjamin Franklin

  Country, Different, Done

  Benjamin Franklin (2008). “The Autobiography and Other Writings”, p.298, Bantam Classics

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• It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Religious, Truth, Freedom

  Notes on the State of Virginia, query 17 (1781 - 1785)

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• It is not the function of government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.

  Robert H. Jackson

  Fall, Errors, Community

  American Communications Ass'n v. Douds (1950)

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