Quotes About Governance

Fit to govern? No, not fit to live.

Woe to that land that's govern'd by a child!

We discussed how wonderful it would be if a man could train himself to be both ethical and brave, and to earn all he needed for his household and himself. That kind of man, we agreed, would be appreciated by the whole world. But if a man went further still, if he had the wisdom and the skill to be the guide and governor of other men, supplying all their needs and making them all they ought to be, that would be the greatest thing of all.

The winner of the tournaments takes control of the Wizard Council, which governs the guilds. Those who have come to power through the system are unlikely to change it. Our family is an aristocracy: privileged and idle, with little to do but spin intrigue.

the failed states in Latin America needed double-entry bookkeeping more than they needed any ideology,

Then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak.

Corruption will be enemy number one.

I you ask me about the monks, I speak from experience, not prejudice, and though I have no doubt that some foundations are well governed, my experience has been of waste and corruption. May I suggest to Your Majesty that, if you wish to see a parade of the seven deadly sins, you do not organise a masque at court but call without notice at a monastery?

No: these are the complaints of small landowners, and men who don't like to pay their taxes. Men who want to be petty kings in their shires, who want the women to curtsey as they pass through the marketplace. I know these paltry gods, he thinks. We had them in Putney. They have them everywhere.

We worked and governed with incredible elan. We really ruled. For the bureaucrats of the Ministry the contrast to the Weimar Republic was stark. Party chatter in the Reichstag was no longer heard. The language of the bureaucracy was rid of the paralyzing formula: technically right but politically impossible.

I believe the test of government is the contentment of the people.

No man is good enough to govern another man, without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle--the sheet anchor of American republicanism.

It is perfectly true that that government is best which governs least. It is equally true that that government is best which provides most.

A large plural society cannot be governed without recognizing that, transcending its plural interests, there is a rational order with a superior common law.

The real power—the power to hire, fire, and spend money—still lay mostly with the city manager, except that he was appointed by, and could therefore be dismissed by, the members of the City Council. The end result was that no one was ever really in charge in Yonkers.

If you have to tell someone they call the shots, they're not really calling the shots.

Secularism will not work in Egypt any more than theocracy. What will work is governance that is guided by the Islamic values of the majority with protection of the minority rights.

The co-existence of religious values in the lives of individuals and secular rules in the governance of the state should be clearly defined.

Better governance helps realize the full potential of the many young Africans who are currently giving their families' savings to criminal networks and risking their lives in the vast expanses of the Sahara or Mediterranean instead of starting their own businesses and using their lives to benefit their families and communities.

Let me say at the outset, there would be no space for vendetta politics in Punjab.

As far Bikram Singh Majithia is concerned, let me reiterate what I have maintained all through, even during my election rallies. That my government will not indulge in any vendetta politics, but at the same time, anyone found guilty of any crime or misdemeanor will not be spared.

Civil disobedience is not accepted by religion and the state does not accept it and there are many verses in the Holy Book that talk of following the ruler.

I worked night and day for twelve years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind, would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came.

A new governing majority will depend on two breakthroughs. The first is that voters, not big money, once again determine election outcomes. We need to break out of the money-politics-media trap. The second is that government be able to translate increased revenues into effective public services and infrastructure. We need, in short, a return to civic virtue, in which Americans recommit to contributing to the common benefit and to cooperating for mutual gain.