Republics decline into democracies and democracies degenerate into despotisms.

The government of Israel doesn’t like the kinds of things I say, which puts them into the same category as every other government in the world.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy. Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we’ve got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon.

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

Anyone who knows history, particularly the history of Europe, will, I think, recognize that the domination of education or of government by any one particular religious faith is never a happy arrangement for the people.

One way to make sure crime doesn’t pay would be to let the government run it.

Liberty must be limited in order to be possessed.

For success of any mission, it is necessary to have creative leadership. Creative leadership is vital for government, non-governmental organisations as well as for industries.

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

Nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced.

No man will ever carry out of the Presidency the reputation which carried him into it.

The ultimate tendency of civilization is towards barbarism.

Man is not free unless government is limited.

I loved being Secretary of State, that’s probably evident to everyone who watched me.

Well, no one gives aid to Zimbabwe through the Mugabe government.

The time has come for us to draw the line. The time has come for the responsible leaders of both political parties to take a stand against overgrown Government and for the American taxpayer.

If the government ever imposes a tax on books – and I wouldn’t put it past them – I’m in dead trouble.

Empire and liberty.

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

The worst government is often the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.

All impeachments, I guess, are political.

I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave and half free.

As a tactic, violence is absurd. No one can compete with the Government in violence, and the resort to violence, which will surely fail, will simply frighten and alienate some who can be reached, and will further encourage the ideologists and administrators of forceful repression.

The totalitarian, to me, is the enemy – the one that’s absolute, the one that wants control over the inside of your head, not just your actions and your taxes.

A President needs political understanding to run the government, but he may be elected without it.

It’s not proper for the government to intrude too thoroughly into the domain of the family. It’s inappropriate.

Tyranny naturally arises out of democracy.

Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who’ll get the blame.

I found that the corridors of power in Delhi were littered with lobbies of various kinds.

When I was president, I announced and I still maintain that I can live with Roe v. Wade. I did everything I possibly could as president under that ruling, which I don’t think ought to be changed, to minimize the need for abortions. I think every abortion is a result of a horrible series of errors on the part of people involved.

I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.

An individual’s refusal to carry out the criminal acts of his government sets the stage, in the most effective way possible, for the attempt to demonstrate the criminal nature of these acts.

That our government should have been maintained in its original form from its establishment until now is not much to be wondered at. It had many props to support it through that period, which now are decayed and crumbled away. Through that period, it was felt by all to be an undecided experiment; now, it is understood to be a successful one.

If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

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.

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job.

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

I don’t follow politics much.

That government is best which governs least.

We must always remember that America is a great nation today not because of what government did for people but because of what people did for themselves and for one another.

Well, I thought the deal was, when you went to work for the government you weren’t supposed to make money!

Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives.

There might be some serious fun in politics.

There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you.

In my country we go to prison first and then become President.

For every benefit you receive a tax is levied.

I would just like to say something, ladies and gentlemen. Something that I think is very important. It is that, you, we – we own this country. We – we own it. It is not you owning it, and not politicians owning it. Politicians are employees of ours.

If I studied all my life, I couldn’t think up half the number of funny things passed in one session of congress.

I don’t think that a Justice should have uppermost in her mind, ‚A Democratic president appointed me, so I must leave to be sure that another Democratic president can appoint my successor.‘

The Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu.

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

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!

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

So confident am I in the intentions, as well as wisdom, of the government, that I shall always be satisfied that what is not done, either cannot, or ought not to be done.

On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government.

Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don’t get wet you can keep.