Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
That government is best which governs least.
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.
A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread.
I have sworn upon the altar of God Eternal, hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man.
The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the government.
The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.
I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too.
If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.
The very word Secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society.
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