Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.
No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.
We are a nation that has a government-not the other way around. And that makes us special among the nations of the earth.
What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind.
In a government bottomed on the will of all, the... liberty of every individual citizen becomes interesting to all.
I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.
If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.
Governments rest on the consent of the governed, and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them at will whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they were established.
Our nation is built on the bedrock principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.
We are a nation that has a government - not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the earth. Our government has no power except that granted to it by the people It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.
Nothing is more surprising than the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.
Government itself is founded upon the great doctrine of the consent of the governed, and has its cornerstone in the memorable principle that men are endowed with inalienable rights.
If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions.
It is to secure our rights that we resort to government at all.
or simply: