Quotes on government
Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.
Brandeis, Louis D.
A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government.
Gore, Al
If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.
Goldberg, Arthur
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
Hutchins, Robert M.
When a machine begins to run without human aid, it is time to scrap it - whether it be a factory or a government.
Chase, Alexander
... the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped.
Luce, Clare Boothe
Our political institutions work remarkably well. They are designed to clang against each other. The noise is democracy at work.
Novak, Michael
Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper.
Flynt, Larry
As a matter of fact, I brought Republicans and Democrats together to do just that in the state of Texas, to get a Patients Bill of Rights through.
Bush, George W.
The expenses of government, having for their object the interest of all, should be borne by everyone, and the more a man enjoys the advantages of society, the more he ought to hold himself honored in contributing to those expenses.
Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques
Because of our Congressional committee system, our government is closer to a gerontocracy than a democracy.
Frankel, Charles
Washington is a place where politicians don't know which way is up and taxes don't know which way is down.
Orben, Robert
If all the economists were laid end to end, they'd never reach a conclusion.
Shaw, George Bernard
The point to remember is that what the government gives it must first take away.
Coleman, John S.
You know why there are so many whitefish in the Yellowstone River? Because the Fish and Game people have never done anything to help them.
Chatham, Russell
If you want to understand your government, don't begin by reading the Constitution.(It conveys precious little of the flavor of today's statecraft.) Instead, read selected portions of the Washington telephone directory containing listings for all the organizations with titles beginning with the word National.
Will, George F.
Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.
Gladstone, William Ewart
Christmas is the time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell government what they want and their kids pay for it.
Lamm, Richard
Many people say that government is necessary because some men cannot be trusted to look after themselves, but anarchists say that government is harmful because no men can be trusted to look after anyone else.
Walter, Nicolas
The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern.
Acton, Lord
Democracy is an abuse of statistics.
Borges, Jorge Luis
The government is unresponsive to the needs of the little man. Under 5'7", it is impossible to get your congressman on the phone.
Allen, Woody
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Roosevelt, Franklin D.
A survey says that American workers work the first three hours every day just to pay their taxes. So that's why we can't get anything done in the morning: We're government workers.
Leno, Jay
It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government.
Gardner, John W.
Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.
Niebuhr, Reinhold
In a state-run society the government promises you security. But it's a false promise predicated on the idea that the opposite of security is risk. Nothing could be further from the truth. The opposite of security is insecurity, and the only way to overcome insecurity is to take risks. The gentle government that promises to hold your hand as you cross the street refuses to let go on the other side.
Forstmann, Theodore
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
Diderot, Denis
Let the people think they govern, and they will be governed.
Penn, William
I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.
Woollcott, Alexander
I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government.
Allen, Woody