Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. read more

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.

All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.

My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on

My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on

Ask not what the government can do for you. Ask why it doesn't.

Ask not what the government can do for you. Ask why it doesn't.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.

Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its people or too weak to maintain its read more

Must a government of necessity be too strong for the liberties of its people or too weak to maintain its own existence?

I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our read more

I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it.

. . . The manners of women are the surest criterion by which to
determine whether a republican government read more

. . . The manners of women are the surest criterion by which to
determine whether a republican government is practicable in a
nation or not.

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. Men have a right that these wants should read more

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. Men have a right that these wants should be provided for by this wisdom.