33 Inspiring Quotes On Government

In a world where governance shapes the framework of our lives, the words of great thinkers, leaders, and activists offer profound insight into its complexities and potential. Quotes have long served as catalysts for thought, inciting change and encouraging introspection about the systems that govern society. Whether you're a policy enthusiast, a curious citizen, or someone seeking inspiration, exploring the wisdom embedded in these 33 carefully selected quotes on government offers a unique perspective on power, responsibility, and the role of civic leadership. Dive into this remarkable collection, and let these timeless reflections spark dialogue and inspire new ways of thinking about how we are governed.

1. “When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present' or 'Not Guilty'.” - Theodore Roosevelt

2. “I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe — "That government is best which governs not at all"; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have. Government is at best but an expedient; but most governments are usually, and all governments are sometimes, inexpedient.” - Henry David Thoreau

3. “No nation has ever taxed itself into prosperity.” - Rush Limbaugh

4. “You never get it right, you people, do you? Either we've got Fudge, pretending everything's lovely while people get murdered right under his nose, or we've got you, chucking the wrong people into jail and trying to pretend you've got 'The Chosen One' working for you!” - J.K. Rowling

5. “Anarchy is a state of society where the only government is reason.” - michael schwab

6. “Wir werden als abhängige Bürger geboren. Vom Moment unserer Geburt an sind wie Abhängige. Ein Zeichen dieser Abhängigkeit ist die Geburtsurkunde. [...] Entweder erhälst du die staatliche Urkunde [...], was dir zu einer Identität verhilft, die dem Staat während deines Lebens ermöglicht, dich zu identifizieren und im auge zu behalten (dich aufzuspüren); oder du kommst ohne eine Identität aus und verdammst dich selbst, wie ein Tier außerhalb des Staats zu leben (Tiere haben keine Personalausweise).” - J.M. Coetzee

7. “I would give something to know for precisely whom the deeds were really done, of which it is publicly stated they were done 'for the Fatherland'.” - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

8. “I have an idea about voting, how about on every ballot we include "None of the above". People may laugh at that, but what that is, it is a vote of no confidence in your government and I'm willing to bet that in some elections, 'None of the Above' would win. Imagine if you won the election but lost to 'None of the Above'. Wouldn't that make you re-think your positions?” - Jesse Ventura

9. “[Government] regulation is an imperfect substitute for the accountability, and trust, built into a market in which food producers meet the gaze of eaters and vice versa.” - Michael Pollan

10. “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” - Margaret Thatcher

11. “Lord, the money we do spend on Government and it's not one bit better than the government we got for one-third the money twenty years ago.” - Will Rogers

12. “Unless government appropriately regulates oil developments and holds oil executives accountable, the public will not trust them to drill, baby, drill. And we must!” - Sarah Palin

13. “We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty in a featherbed.” - Thomas Jefferson

14. “They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.” - Calvin Coolidge

15. “Government does not solve problems. It subsidizes them.” - Ronald Reagan

16. “Every government is run by liars. Nothing they say should be believed.” - I.F. Stone

17. “That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.” - Margaret Atwood

18. “As nature has uncovered from under this hard shell the seed for which she most tenderly cares - the propensity and vocation to free thinking - this gradually works back upon the character of the people, who thereby gradually become capable of managing freedom; finally, it affects the principles of government, which finds it to its advantage to treat men, who are now more than machines, in accordance with their dignity.” - Immanuel Kant

19. “But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand the risks and benefits of government, to educate themselves, and to involve themselves in the political process. Without that, he said, the wolves will take over.” - Carl Sagan

20. “Government is nothing more than the combined force of society or the united power of the multitude for the peace, order, safety, good, and happiness of the people... There is no king or queen bee distinguished from all the others by size or figure or beauty and variety of colors in the human hive. No man has yet produced any revelation from heaven in his favor, any divine communication to govern his fellow men. Nature throws us all into the world equal and alike... The preservation of liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral character of the people. As long as knowledge and virtue are diffused generally among the body of a nation it is impossible they should be enslaved. Ambition is one of the more ungovernable passions of the human heart. The love of power is insatiable and uncontrollable... There is a danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living wth power to endanger public liberty.” - David McCullough

21. “The choice is yours: trust the government or trust Mother Nature.” - John Cannell, MD

22. “But having biologists outside the Beltway remained a problem for the adminisration. "They found they couldn't control us," Williams said... "That sort of thing just drove them up the wall. They were so used to saying 'do this,' and we'll just go away and do it. Never ask questions. The biologists had good connections with the press and national environmental group. "So eventually they said, 'Okay we're going to send you guys out to the hinterlands.'" The Regan administration began to dismantle the Endangered Species Office in D.C. Biologists have been working from regional offices ever since.” - Joe Roman

23. “In response to my question about how we might rein in the empire, he said, "That's why I'm meeting with you. Only you in the United States can change it. Your government created this problem and your people must solve it. You've got to insist that Washington honor its commitment to democracy, even when deomcratically elected leaders nationalize your corrupting corporations. You must take control of your corporations and your government. The people of the United States have a great deal of power. You need to come to grips with this. There's no alternative. We in Brazil have our hands tied. So do the Venezeulans. And the Nigerians. It's up to you.” - John Perkins

24. “In a well-functioning democracy, the state constitution is considered more important than God's holy book, whichever holy book that may be, and God matters only in your private life.” - Ayaan Hirsi Ali

25. “Are you saying the end of human suffering began with an amusement park?”“I’m saying the end of human suffering is a myth.”“But everyone’s happy.”“You think that just because a person doesn’t question the way the system works that means they agree with it? And if they do agree that must mean they’re happy? Are you happy?” - T.S. Welti

26. “The creators of the Constitution were not purple-robed scholars, sitting in their ivory towers attempting to put abstract theories into play, but men who had come to realize that their system of government was broken. These men desired desperately to repair it.” - C.L. Gammon

27. “It seems that the rebels found the chaos of transition more difficult to accept than the tyranny they had known before. They joyfully welcomed back authority-even oppressive authority-for it was less painful for them than uncertainty.” - Brandon Sanderson

28. “Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men and women lost in battle so that we as individuals might have a say in governing our country?  Honor the lives sacrificed for your freedoms. Vote.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

29. “The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law.” - William Shakespeare

30. “For an entire wing of the G.O.P., a dysfunctional government, whose only visible activity is mismanaging crises, is not an embarrassment but the vindication of a worldview.” - Amy Davidson

31. “Money equals power; power makes the law; and law makes government.” - Kim Stanley Robinson

32. “Human nature turns out to be more complicated than the idea that people will get along if only the rules are clear enough. Uncertainty, the ultimate evil that modern law seeks to eradicate, generally fosters cooperation, not the opposite.” - Philip K. Howard

33. “If you have the power to hit people over the head whenever you want, you don’t have to trouble yourself too much figuring out what they think is going on, and therefore, generally speaking, you don’t. Hence the sure-fire way to simplify social arrangements, to ignore the incredibly complex play of perspectives, passions, insights, desires, and mutual understandings that human life is really made of, is to make a rule and threaten to attack anyone who breaks it. This is why violence has always been the favored recourse of the stupid: it is the one form of stupidity to which it is almost impossible to come up with an intelligent response. It is also of course the basis of the state.” - David Graeber