When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own read more

When I am abroad, I always make it a rule to never criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home.

The primary function of the government is - and here I am quoting directly from the U.S. Constitution - "to read more

The primary function of the government is - and here I am quoting directly from the U.S. Constitution - "to spew out paper."

If you want to understand your government, don't begin by reading the Constitution. (It conveys precious little of the flavor read more

If you want to understand your government, don't begin by reading the Constitution. (It conveys precious little of the flavor of today's statecraft.) Instead, read selected portions of the Washington telephone directory containing listings for all the organizations with titles beginning with the word National.

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.

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.

Here is my first principle of foreign policy: good government at home.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

A wise government knows how to enforce with temper, or to conciliate with dignity, but a weak one is odious read more

A wise government knows how to enforce with temper, or to conciliate with dignity, but a weak one is odious in the former, and contemptible in the latter.

The American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They read more

The American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

Franklin Roosevelt stands like a sharply formed rock in a shapeless sea.
spoken on Book TV by a Jackson biographer.

Franklin Roosevelt stands like a sharply formed rock in a shapeless sea.
spoken on Book TV by a Jackson biographer.