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A power has arisen up in the Government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.

— John C. Calhoun

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Government

More quotes by John C. Calhoun

In looking back, I see nothing to regret, and little to correct.

It is harder to preserve than to obtain liberty.

The very essence of a free government consists in considering offices as public trusts, bestowed for the good of the country, and not for the benefit of an individual or a party.

All this combined contributed greatly to strengthen the bonds of the Union.

On the Subject of Slavery (1850)

Protection and patriotism are reciprocal.

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Ill can he rule the great, that cannot reach the small.

Edmund Spenser The Faerie Queene (1589)

The essence of Government is power; and power, lodged as it must be in human hands, will ever be liable to abuse.

James Madison

Bureaucracy and social harmony are inversely proportional to each other.

Leon Trotsky The Revolution Betrayed (1936)

There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.

John Adams

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: John C. Calhoun (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.