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

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

I have long believed taxpayers make better use of their money than the government ever could.
Kay Bailey Hutchison

I'm tired of hearing it said that democracy doesn't work. Of course it doesn't work. We are supposed to work it.
Alexander Woollcott

If 'pro' is the opposite of 'con' what is the opposite of 'progress'?
Paul Harvey

If human beings are fundamentally good, no government is necessary; if they are fundamentally bad, any government, being composed of human beings, would be bad also.
Fred Woodworth

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.
James Madison

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
Saint Augustine

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.
Thomas Jefferson

It is hard to feel individually responsible with respect to the invisible processes of a huge and distant government.
John W. Gardner

It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.
Andrew Jackson

It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.
Tom Stoppard

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.
James Madison

Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.
Otto von Bismarck

Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
Benjamin Franklin

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.
William Penn

Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights. Because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper.
Larry Flynt

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
Denis Diderot

Ninety eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hardworking, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then, we elected them.
Lily Tomlin

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.
Abraham Lincoln