49+ Famous Government Quotes

Government refers to the system or organization through which a community, society, or country exercises political authority and control over its citizens or subjects. It is a governing body that establishes and enforces laws, regulations, and policies, manages public affairs, provides public services, and maintains order within a given territory. The primary functions of a government include making decisions, setting policies, collecting taxes, providing public services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, and defense, and representing the interests of its citizens domestically and internationally.

Governments can take various forms, such as democracies, monarchies, republics, autocracies, or theocracies, each with its own unique structures and principles. The specific form of government determines how power is distributed, who holds authority, and how decisions are made. In democratic systems, power is typically vested in the people through elected representatives, while in autocratic systems, power is concentrated in the hands of a single ruler or a small group of individuals.

Governments are essential for maintaining social order, protecting individual rights and liberties, promoting economic development, and ensuring the welfare of the population. The structures and functions of governments can vary significantly from one country to another, reflecting the diversity of political ideologies, cultural values, and historical contexts across different societies.

Government Quotes

1. “The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
— Winston Churchill

2. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
— Edmund Burke

3. “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
— Abraham Lincoln

4. “The price of greatness is responsibility.”
— Winston Churchill

5. “Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”
— Ronald Reagan

6. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
— Lord Acton

7. “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it.”
— Albert Einstein

8. “The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness.”
— Thomas Jefferson

9. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.

10. “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
— Thomas Paine

11. “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
— Ronald Reagan

12. “A good government is one that takes care of its most vulnerable citizens.”
— Barack Obama

13. “The government is best which governs least.”
— Henry David Thoreau

14. “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”
— Ronald Reagan

15. “There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.”
— Charles de Montesquieu

16. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
— Ronald Reagan

17. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
— James Madison

18. “The function of government is to provide an organized system in which we can find our happiness.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt

19. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
— Ronald Reagan

20. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
— Thomas Jefferson

21. “A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
— John F. Kennedy

22. “If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.”
— Voltaire

23. “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities.”
— Abraham Lincoln

24. “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.”
— Thomas Paine

25. “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
— Franklin D. Roosevelt

26. “The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.”
— Ronald Reagan

27. “Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.”
— Thomas Jefferson

28. “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
— Abraham Lincoln

29. “The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.”
— Kurt Cobain

30. “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.”
— John F. Kennedy

31. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
— Abraham Lincoln

32. “If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
— James Madison

33. “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
— Gerald Ford

34. “The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it.”
— Albert Einstein

35. “Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”
— George Washington

36. “The government’s first duty is to protect the people.”
— Ronald Reagan

37. “The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.”
— Thomas Jefferson

38. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
— Thomas Jefferson

39. “The only way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden ”
— Hunter S. Thompson

40. “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
— Thomas Jefferson

41. “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it.”
— Mark Twain

42. “It is not the function of the government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.”
— Robert H. Jackson

43. “No man is good enough to govern another man without the other’s consent.”
— Abraham Lincoln

44. “In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed, and in the next place oblige it to control itself.”
— James Madison

45. “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”
— Plato

46. “A government is a body of people, usually, notably ungoverned.”
— Shepherd Book (Fictional character from “Firefly” TV series)

47. “Governments exist to protect the rights of minorities. The loved and the rich need no protection: they have many friends and few enemies.”
— Wendell Phillips

48. “The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
— Ronald Reagan

49. “Governments should not be able to silence critics through lawsuits intended to stifle speech.”
— Hillary Clinton

50. “The government is best that governs least.”
— Henry David Thoreau