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

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

Nothing's more dull and negligent
Than an old, lazy government,
That knows no interest of state,
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Nothing's more dull and negligent
Than an old, lazy government,
That knows no interest of state,
But such as serves a present strait.

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.

Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves

Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves

The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.

The only justifiable purpose of political institutions is to ensure the unhindered development of the individual.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence -- it is force.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence -- it is force.

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

The point to remember is that what the Government gives it must first take away.

The point to remember is that what the Government gives it must first take away.

So that every wand or staff of empire is forsooth curved at top.
[Lat., Adeo ut omnes imperii virga read more

So that every wand or staff of empire is forsooth curved at top.
[Lat., Adeo ut omnes imperii virga sive bacillum vere superius
inflexum sit.]