A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.

I feel good because I believe I have made progress in rebuilding the people’s trust in their government.

If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

Domestic policy can only defeat us; foreign policy can kill us.

We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.

He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.

How can a president not be an actor?

The people know their rights, and they are never slow to assert and maintain them when they are invaded.

Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.

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

Real liberty is neither found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.

Since I’m the president and Democrats have controlled the House and the Senate, it’s understandable that people are saying, you know, ‚What have you done?‘

We must have government that builds stamina into communities and men. That makes men instead of mendicants.

An unjust peace is better than a just war.

Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be, as the egg is to the fowl; we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it.

Governments are not representative. They have their own power, serving segments of the population that are dominant and rich.

Due process should matter.

Revenge is a kind of wild justice, which the more a man’s nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

It’s easy being a humorist when you’ve got the whole government working for you.

I’m not somebody that just wants to hold up a white flag and say, ‚Let’s all just get along.‘ I think people that do horrible things should be held accountable.

Truth never damages a cause that is just.

I think that slavery is wrong, morally, socially and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.

The question really is, are you improving the world? And you can do that in many models. You can do that in government, you can do that in a nonprofit, and you can do it in commercial enterprise.

What is human warfare but just this; an effort to make the laws of God and nature take sides with one party.

Kings will be tyrants from policy, when subjects are rebels from principle.

We have the best government that money can buy.

What is ominous is the ease with which some people go from saying that they don’t like something to saying that the government should forbid it. When you go down that road, don’t expect freedom to survive very long.

The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf.

Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

Government does not create wealth. The major role for the government is to create an environment where people take risks to expand the job rate in the United States.

Everywhere that freedom stirs, let tyrants fear.

Nicaragua dealt with the problem of terrorism in exactly the right way. It followed international law and treaty obligations. It collected evidence, brought the evidence to the highest existing tribunal, the International Court of Justice, and received a verdict – which, of course, the U.S. dismissed with contempt.

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.

A politician is a man who understands government. A statesman is a politician who’s been dead for 15 years.

A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing.

Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.

According to the law of nature it is only fair that no one should become richer through damages and injuries suffered by another.

Justice and truth are too such subtle points that our tools are too blunt to touch them accurately.

Don’t interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

The example that America knows how to govern itself is one of the compelling aspects of our national security.

Israelis would mostly breathe a sigh of relief if Palestinians were to disappear.

When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer ‚Present‘ or ‚Not guilty.‘

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don’t have to waste your time voting.

Sure there are dishonest men in local government. But there are dishonest men in national government too.

Some people will have to be afraid. Those who plunder the nation, deliver injustice, will have to feel scared of me. And I am not afraid of admitting this. Government cannot be so lenient that it forgives them.

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.

The government is us; we are the government, you and I.

I know the Federal Reserve Bank can continue to print more and more money… but city and state governments cannot.

The place of justice is a hallowed place.

If we can but prevent the government from wasting the labours of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.

The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give everyone else his due.

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him.

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.

It is almost universally felt that when we call a country democratic we are praising it; consequently, the defenders of every kind of regime claim that it is a democracy, and fear that they might have to stop using the word if it were tied down to any one meaning.

It’s actually very easy for democracy to disappear.

Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.

Democracy as a system has evolved into something that Thomas Jefferson didn’t anticipate.

Against eternal injustice, man must assert justice, and to protest against the universe of grief, he must create happiness.