Quotes About Government

Ultimately politics in a democracy reflects values much more than it shapes them.

A question which can be answered without prejudice to the government is not a fit question to ask.

The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property.

Republics are ungrateful.

A monarchy is a merchantman which sails well, but will sometimes strike on a rock, and go to the bottom; a republic is a raft which will never sink, but then your feet are always in water.

It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of society against the injustice of the other part.

A republican government is slow to move, yet when once in motion, its momentum becomes irresistible.

Republics are brought to their ends by luxury; monarchies by poverty.

Retirement: statutory senility.

A nation without the means of reform is without the means of survival.

The most dangerous moment for a bad government is when it begins to reform.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.

Our whole way of life today is dedicated to the removal of risk. Cradle to grave we are supported, insulated, and isolated from the risks of life- and if we fall, our government stands ready with Band-Aids of every size.

That the king can do no wrong is a necessary and fundamental principle of the English constitution.

The trappings of a monarchy would set up an ordinary commonwealth.

Put not your trust in princes.

The only people who would be in government are those who care more about people than they do about power.

Englishmen never will be slaves; they are free to do whatever the Government and public opinion allow them to do.

All Socialism involves slavery.

States are as the men are; they grow out of human characters.

Since when do grown men and women, who presume to hold high government office and exercise what they think of as "moral leadership," require ethics officers to tell them whether it is or isn't permissible to grab the secretary's behind or redirect public funds to their own personal advantage?

The power to tax involves the power to destroy.

The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the least hissing.

The point to remember is that what the government gives it must first take away.