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Government Quotes

Jefferson leads this page, followed by Milton Friedman, Robert LeFevre and Lincoln. Most of it is political philosophy, with a few jokes mixed in: P. J. O’Rourke in Parliament of Whores (1991) says giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys, and Will Rogers, in 1935, said a comedian needs no credit when the whole government is working for him.

Two well-known lines are flagged. “Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants” is credited to William Penn, but the oldest wording the notes cite is from a 1949 speech by Norman Vincent Peale. The one about a government big enough to give you everything being big enough to take it away is credited to Barry Goldwater, and the notes point to older versions of it.

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Most quoted on government:

A strong government does not mean a government that interferes and intervenes in all affairs. It is not a government that limits the lives of people. This is not a strong government.

Hassan Rouhani

The Yemeni government is working hard to mitigate the repercussions of the decline in the local currency, and curb the rising inflation and weak purchasing power.

Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed (2019)

People get the government their behavior deserves. People deserve better than that.

Richard Stallman

I say thank God for government waste. If government is doing bad things, it's only the waste that prevents the harm from being greater.

Milton Friedman

A government does not, in general, just go about the world doing good. It has to be pushed into it.

Gordon Tullock

Authority must be utilized by government to attain certain noble objective but this authority must be circumscribed.

Ferdinand Marcos

Unless your government is respectable, foreigners will invade your rights; and to maintain tranquillity you must be respectable; even to observe neutrality you must have a strong government.

Alexander Hamilton

You can choose whatever name you like for the two types of government. I personally call the type of government which can be removed without violence "democracy", and the other "tyranny".

Karl Popper Freedom: A New Analysis (1954)

Since governmental activity may be deemed a service which is useful to society, society should consent to pay for this service.

Henri de Saint-Simon

The government will not be intimidated. Orders have been given to maintain order at all costs.

John Vorster

I shall not rest until, once again, the destinies of our people and our party are joined together again in victory at the next general election Labour in its rightful place in government again.

Tony Blair

State Government needs to understand that they work for the people and that the people do not work to support government.

Rupert Boneham Rupert on the Issues (2011)

A government serves people, and when a government delivers services, they deliver them to real people — people who live, who laugh, who cry, who suffer, who yell out in pain, who love and are loved.

Bowinn Ma

Among the popular and representative systems of government I do not approve of the federal system: it is too perfect; and it requires virtues and political talents much superior to our own.

Simón Bolívar

The reins of government have been so long slackened, that I fear the people will not quietly submit to those restraints which are necessary for the peace and security of the community.

Abigail Adams

The purpose of totalitarian parties, for which Bolshevism provided the model, was not to become the government, but to manipulate the government from behind the scenes.

Richard Pipes Three “Whys” of the Russian Revolution (1995)

If any foreign minister begins to defend to the death a "peace conference," you can be sure his government has already placed its orders for new battleships and aeroplanes.

Joseph Stalin

You could afford your house without your government - if it weren't for your government.

Rush Limbaugh

Without universities independent of government control, the natural process of acquiring knowledge and developing thought will be thwarted, if not rendered impossible.

Narges Mohammadi Letter Accepting 2018 Andrei Sakharov Prize (2018)

This is a special night for me. The Portuguese have confirmed that they want a Socialist Party government for the next four years ... They want stability, certainty and security.

António Costa António Costa (2022)

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