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.
The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime.
Individualities may form communities, but it is institutions alone that can create a nation.
No sooner does he hear any of his brothers mention reform or retrenchment, than up he jumps.
The deterioration of a government begins almost always by the decay of its principles.
He touched the dead corpse of Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
For where's the state beneath the firmament
That doth excel the bees for government?