When three men plot, one is a fool and two are government spies.
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.
Government must be a transparent garment which tightly clings to the people’s body.
Government may be intrinsically evil; clearly they operate on the basis of tax predation.
Every government, our own included, fights with propaganda as deadly as poison gas.
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil.
A healthy republican government must rest upon individuals, not upon classes or sections.
Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
The American character is both idealistic and realistic: why can't our government reflect both?