Government Quotes And Sayings

by allinspiration.com

Here is a collection of government quotes and sayings from various authors, celebrities, famous persons, and other sources compiled by allinspiration.com for you to read and enjoy.

“I respect the man who knows distinctly what he wishes. The greater part of all mischief in the world arises from the fact that men do not sufficiently understand their own aims. They have undertaken to build a tower, and spend no more labor on the foundation than would be necessary to erect a hut.” 
– John Wolfgang Von Goethe 

“The great fish swallow up the small; and he who is most strenuous for the rights of the people, when vested with power, is as eager after the prerogatives of government.”
– Abigail Adams

“No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.” 
– Abraham Lincoln

“Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they’ve told you what you think it is you want to hear.” 
– Alan Coren

“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” 
– Alan Moore

“When a machine begins to run without human aid, it is time to scrap it – whether it be a factory or a government.” 
– Alexander Chase

“Why has government been instituted at all?  Because the passions of men will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice, without constraint.”
– Alexander Hamilton

“The President, and government, will only control the militia when a part of them is in the actual service of the federal government, else, they are independent and not under the command of the president or the government. The states would control the militia, only when called out into the service of the state, and then the governor would be commander in chief where enumerated in the respective state constitution.”
– Alexander Hamilton

“I’m tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn’t work.  Of course it doesn’t work.  We are supposed to work it.” 
– Alexander Woollcott

“If Columbus had an advisory committee he would probably still be at the dock.” 
– Arthur Goldberg

“Our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter — that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.”
– Barack Obama

“If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and to promote their common welfare – all else is lost.”
– Barack Obama

“In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of the state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.” 
– Baron de Montesquieu

“A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away.”
– Barry Goldwater

“A Conservative government is an organised hypocrisy.”
– Benjamin Disraeli

“Democracy:  The state of affairs in which you consent to having your pocket picked, and elect the best man to do it.” 
– Benjamin Lichtenberg

“As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.”
– Berttrand Russell

“Frankly, I’m fed up with politicians in Washington lecturing the rest of us about family values. Our families have values. But our government doesn’t.”
– Bill Clinton

“Congress is so strange.  A man gets up to speak and says nothing.  Nobody listens – and then everybody disagrees.” 
– Boris Marshalov

“A government must govern, must prescribe and enforce laws within its sphere or cease to be a government. Moreover, the individual must be independent and free within his own sphere or cease to be an individual. The fundamental question … is now, and always will be through what adjustments, by what actions, these principles may be applied.”
– Calvin Coolidge

“While legislation can stimulate and encourage, the real creative ability which builds up and develops the country, and in general makes human existence more tolerable and life more complete, has to be supplied by the genius of the people themselves. The Government can supply no substitute for enterprise.”
– Calvin Coolidge

“In all governments, there must of necessity be both the law and the sword; laws without arms would give us not liberty, but licentiousness; and arms without laws, would produce not subjection, but slavery. The law, therefore, should be unto the sword what the handle is to the hatchet; it should direct the stroke and temper the force.”
– Chales Caleb Colton

“How can one conceive of a one-party system in a country that has over two hundred varieties of cheese?” 
– Charles de Gaulle

“Treaties are like roses and young girls – they last while they last.” 
– Charles de Gaulle

“Because of our Congressional committee system, our government is closer to a gerontocracy than a democracy.”
– Charles Frankel

“Ceremonies are the first thing to be attended to in the practice of government.”
– Confucius

“There is good government when those who are near are made happy, and when those who are afar are attracted.”
– Confucius

“When a country is well governed, poverty and a mean condition are something to be ashamed of. When a country is ill governed, riches and honors are something to be ashamed of.”
– Confucius

“Talk is cheap – except when Congress does it.” 
– Cullen Hightower

“The mistakes made by Congress wouldn’t be so bad if the next Congress didn’t keep trying to correct them.” 
– Cullen Hightower

“Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.”
– Dag Hammarskjöld

“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
– Denis Diderot

“Governments should not possess instruments of coercion and violence denied to their citizens.” 
– Edgar A. Suter

“Applause, mingled with boos and hisses, is about all that the average voter is able or willing to contribute to public life.”
– Elmer Davis

“A civil servant doesn’t make jokes.”
– Eugene Ionesco

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