government quotes

A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have.

A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.

Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?

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.

Democracy gives every man the right to be his own oppressor

Democracy is an abuse of statistics.

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.

Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists.

Every government is a parliament of whores. The trouble is, in a democracy, the whores are us.

For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

Government is an unnecessary evil. Human beings, when accustomed to taking responsibility for their own behavior, can cooperate on a basis of mutual trust and helpfulness.

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.

I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.

If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con' what is the opposite of 'progress'?

If human beings are fundamentally good, no government is necessary; if they are fundamentally bad, any government, being composed of human beings, would be bad also.

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government.

It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.