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GOODNESS
GOODWILL --- GOSSIP --- GOVERNMENT

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GOODNESS

see: "(ON) DOING GOOD"
see: "GRACE"
see: "CHARACTER" for other related links
see: "KINDNESS" for other related links


I'm as pure as the driven slush.
--Tallulah Bankhead (1903—1968)
American actress.
In "Saturday Evening Post" [12 April 1947].

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of
others cannot keep it from themselves.
--Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860—1937)
Scottish writer and dramatist.
Quoted in James Wood (ed.)
_Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and
Modern, English and Foreign Sources_, p. 483 [1893].

He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars;
General good is the plea of the scoundrel, hypocrite, and flatterer.
--William Blake (1757—1827)
English poet.
"Jerusalem" ch. 3, plate 55, l. 60 [1815]

To be good to the vile is to throw water into the sea.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou _Edge-Tools of Speech_, p. 73 [1886].

He that is good will infallibly become better, and he that is bad
will as certainly become worse; for vice, virtue, and time are
three things that never stand still.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.
_Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words_, CCCCLVII [1821 ed.]

We believe at once in evil; we only believe
in good upon reflection. Is not this sad?
--Madame Dorothιe Deluzy (1747—1830)
French actress.
Quoted in Theodore Taylor (pseud. of John Camden Hotten)
The Golden Treasury of Thought_ p. 88 [1874].

If people are good only because they fear punishment,
and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.
--attributed to Albert Einstein (1879—1955)
German-American physicist who developed the
special and general theories of relativity.

It is a grand mistake to think of being
great without goodness; and I pronounce
it is certain that there was never yet a
truly great man that was not at the same
time truly virtuous.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790)
American politician, inventor, and scientist.
"The Busy-Body Papers" in the _American Weekly Mercury_ [18 February 1729].

The virtue which requires to be ever
guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.
--Oliver Goldsmith (1728—1774)
Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and dramatist.
_The Vicar of Wakefield_ [1766]

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good
thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can
show to any fellow-creature, let me do it now; let me
not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way
again.
--Stephen Grellet (1773—1855)
French missionary.
Attributed; there are many claimants to authorship.

A good man is kinder to his enemy
than bad men to their friends.
--Joseph Hall (1574—1656)
English bishop, moral philosopher, and satirist.
Quoted in Matthew Russell (ed.) _The Irish Monthly_, V, xvi [1888].

We all wear some disguise, make some professions,
use some artifice, to set ourselves off as being
better than we are; and yet it is not denied that
we have some good intentions and praiseworthy
qualities at bottom.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
_Sketches and Essays_ [1839] "On Cant and Hypocrisy"

Goodness alone is *never* enough. A hard, cold wisdom
is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness
without wisdom always accomplishes evil.
--Robert A(nson) Heinlein (1907—1988)
American science-fiction writer.
_Stranger In A Strange Land_ [1961]

But this we know: good deeds are never
childless. A noble life is never lost.
--Robert Green Ingersoll (1833—1899)
American politician and orator know as "the great agnostic."
"A Tribute to Elizur Wright" [19 December 1885]

As I know more of mankind, I expect less of them,
and am ready now to call a man a good man upon
easier terms than I was formerly.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
In James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791].

Many individuals have, like uncut diamonds,
shining qualities beneath a rough exterior.
--Juvenal (c. 55—130)
Roman satirist.
Attributed in Maturin M. Ballou _Edge-Tools of Speech_, p. 405 [1886].

It is with certain good qualities as with the senses; those
who are entirely deprived of them can neither appreciate
nor comprehend them.
--Franηois de La Rochefoucauld (1613—1680)
French classical author.
_Moral Reflections, Sentences and Maxims of Francis,
Duc de La Rochefoucauld_ [William Gowans, New York, 1851]

You are not very good if you are not better
than your best friends imagine you to be.
--Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741—1801)
Swiss writer, Protestant pastor, and founder of physiognomics.
Quoted in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 200 [1908 ed.].

Men have less lively perception of good than of evil.
--Livy [Titus Livius] (59 BC—17 AD)
With Sallust and Tacitus, one of the three great Roman historians.
_Annales_, XXX, 21

There is no man so good that if he submitted all his actions
and thoughts to the scrutiny of the laws, he would not
deserve hanging ten times in his life.
--Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533—1592)
French moralist and essayist.
_Essais_ (Essays) [94 chapters written 1571—1580 & published 1580;
the last 13 chapters were written 1585—1587 & published 1588.]
Bk. 3, ch. 9 [1580]

On the whole, human beings want to be good,
but not too good and not quite all the time.
--George Orwell [Eric Blair] (1903—1950)
English novelist.
"The Art of Donald McGill" in _Horizon_ [September, 1941].

Every religion is good that teaches man to be good.
--Thomas Paine [spelled Pane prior to 1774] (1737—1809)
English-American writer and political pamphleteer.
_Rights of Man_, pt. II, ch. 5 [1791]

To do an evil action is base; to do a good action, without incurring
danger is common enough; but it is the part of a good man to do
great and noble deeds though he risks everything.
--Plutarch (A.D. 46?—119?)
Greek philosopher and biographer.
Attributed in James Comper Gray _The Biblical Museum_, p. 64 [1871].

Good men can more easily see through
bad men than the latter can the former.
--Jean Paul Richter (1763—1825)
German novelist.
_Hesperus_, IV [1794]

No good thing is ever lost. Nothing dies, not even life, which
gives up one form only to resume another. No good action,
no good example dies. It lives forever in our race. While the
frame moulders and disappears, the deed leaves an indelible
stamp, and moulds the very thought and will of future
generations.
--Samuel Smiles (1812—1904)
Scottish author.
_Duty_ [1880]

Although men are accused for not knowing their own
weakness, yet perhaps as few know their own strength.
It is in men as in soils, where sometimes there is a vein
of gold which the owner knows not of.
--Jonathan Swift (1667—1745)
Anglo-Irish poet and satirist.
_Thoughts on Various Subjects_ [1706]

If I knew that a man was coming to my house with the
conscious design of doing me good, I would flee for my
life.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862)
American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher.
Quoted in "The Common Good" [Rochester, N.Y., October 1911].

Be good and you will be lonesome.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
Holographed caption under frontispiece photograph
of the author in _Following the Equator_ [1897].

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[In reply to 'Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!'
Mandie Triplett (Mae West) replies:]
'Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.'
--Mae West (1893—1980)
American stage and film actress.
"Night After Night" [1932 film]


I used to be Snow White . . . but I drifted.
--Mae West (1893—1980)
American stage and film actress.
Quoted in Joseph Weintraub _Peel Me a Grape_ [1975].

-

That best portion of a good man's life.
His little, nameless, unremembered,
acts of kindness and of love.
--William Wordsworth (1770—1850)
English poet.
"Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey" [1798]

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Whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is of good
repute, if there is any excellence and
anything worthy of praise, let your mind
dwell on these things.
--St. Paul, Epistle to the Philippians, ch. 4

We can often better help another by
fanning a glimmer of goodness than
by censuring his faults.
--anon.



GOODWILL

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see: "KINDNESS" for related links


I know, indeed, of nothing more subtly satisfying and
cheering than a knowledge of the real good will and
appreciation of others. Such happiness does not come
with money, nor does it flow from a fine physical state.
It cannot be brought. But it is the keenest joy, after all,
and the toiler's truest and best reward.
--William Dean Howells (1837—1920)
American novelist and critic.
Quoted in Orison Swett Marden _How They Succeeded:
Life Stories of Successful Men Told by Themselves_,
ch. XI [1901] (From an interview in Success Magazine.)

The naοve notion that we can preserve freedom by
exuding goodwill is not only silly, but dangerous.
The more adherents it wins, the more it tempts
the aggressor.
--Richard Nixon (1913—1994)
American Republican statesman, President [1969—1974].
_The Real War_ [1980]



GOSSIP

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see: "REPUTATION"
see: "RUMOR"
see: "SCANDAL"
see: "COMMUNICATION" for other related links
see: "HURTING (SOMEONE)" for other related links


There is nothing that more betrays a base
ungenerous spirit than the giving of secret
stabs to a man's reputation. Lampoons
and satires, that are written with wit and
spirit, are like poisoned darts, which not
only inflict a wound, but make it incurable.
--Joseph Addison (1672—1719)
English essayist, poet, and dramatist.
_The Spectator_ [1711—1712]

Old maids sweeten their tea with scandal.
--Josh Billings [Henry Wheeler Shaw] (1818—1885)
American humorist.
Quoted in David Kin _Dictionary of American Maxims_ [1955].

I am more deadly than the screaming shell from the
howitzer. I win without killing. I tear down homes,
break hearts, and wreck lives. I travel on the wings
of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to
intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me.
I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice,
no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as
numerous as the sands of the sea, and often as
innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive.
My name is Gossip.
--Morgan Blake,
_Atlanta Journal_ [c. 1917]

There's not the least thing can be said or
done, but people will talk and find fault.
--Miguel de Cervantes (1547—1616)
Spanish novelist.
_Don Quixote de la Mancha_, pt. I, bk. 2, ch. 4 [1605]

[To a reporter in 1912:]
I don't care what you say about me, as long as you
say *something* about me, and as long as you spell
my name right.
--George M. Cohan (1878—1942)
American songwriter, dramatist, and producer.
Quoted in John McCabe _George M. Cohan_ [1973].

Alas! they had been friends in youth;
But whispering tongues can poison truth.
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772—1834)
English poet, critic, and philosopher.
_Christabel_, pt. II [1800]

^

The Waterloo, Neb., city council in 1910 passed an ordinance
making it illegal for barbers "to discuss the gossip of the town"
with their customers. The ordinance also prohibited barbers
from eating onions between the hours of 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.
and from sticking their fingers in the mouths of their customers.
--Cynthia Crossen
"Gossip: So Much Fun People Once Tried To Make It Illegal"
_The Wall Street Journal_ [4 June 2007]

^

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If you are tempted to reveal
A tale to you someone has told
About another, make it pass,
Before you speak, three gates of gold.

These narrow gates: First, 'Is it true?'
Then, 'Is it needful?' In your mind
Give truthful answer. And the next—
Is last and narrowest, 'Is it kind?'

And if to reach your lips at last
It passes through these gateways three,
Then you may tell, nor ever fear
What the result of speech may be.

--Beth Day
"Three Gates of Gold" [1855]

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To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves.
--Will Durant (1885—1981)
American philosopher and writer.
Quoted in "Reader's Digest" [1959].

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty
tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it; it proves
nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.
--George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] (1819—1880)
English novelist.
_Daniel Deronda_ [1876]

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Hear no ill of a Friend,
nor speak any of an Enemy.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790)
American politician, inventor, and scientist.
_Poor Richard's Almanack_ [1739]


I am about Courting a Girl I have had but little Acquaintance with;
how shall I come to a Knowledge of her Fawlts? and whether she
has the Virtues I imagine she has?
Answ. Commend her among her Female Acquaintances.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790)
American politician, inventor, and scientist.
_Pennsylvania Gazette_ [12 March 1732]

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When we risk no contradiction,
It prompts the tongue to deal in fiction.
--John Gay (1685—1732)
English poet and dramatist.
"The Elephant and the Bookseller" in _Fables_, pt. 1 [1727].

The best-loved man or maid in the town would
perish with anguish
Could they hear all that their friends say in
the course of a day.
--John Milton Hay (1838—1905)
U.S. secretary of state [1898—1905] associated
with the Open Door policy toward China.
"Distichs" XIII

Every one in a crowd has the power to throw
dirt: nine out of ten have the inclination.
--William Hazlitt (1778—1830)
English essayist.
"On Reading New Books" (essay)

I don't care what is written about
me so long as it isn't true.
--Katharine Hepburn (1907—2003)
American stage and motion-picture actress; winner of four Academy Awards.
Quoted in "Nieman Reports" [1973].

Calumny is a monstrous vice: for, where parties indulge in
it, there are always two that are actively engaged in doing
wrong, and one who is subject to injury. The calumniator
inflicts wrong by slandering the absent; he who gives credit
to the calumny, before he has investigated the truth, is
equally implicated. The person traduced is doubly injured
— first by him who propagates, and secondly by him who
credits the calumny.
--Herodotus (484—c.425 BC)
Greek author of the first great narrative history produced in the ancient world.
Quoted in Craufurd Tait Ramage
_Beautiful Thoughts from Greek Authors_, p 147 [1864].

To tell tales out of school.
--John Heywood (1497—1580)
English playwright.
_Proverbs_ [1546]

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In the old days of barbarism, the people
fought with hatchets. Civilized men buried
the hatchet, and now fight with gossip.
--Edgar Watson Howe (1854—1937)
American journalist and author.
_Country Town Sayings_ [1911]


What people say behind your back
is your standing in the community.
--Edgar Watson Howe (1854—1937)
American journalist and author.
Quoted in Robert Andrews
_The Routledge Dictionary of Quotations_, p. 254 [1987].

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Gossip is vice enjoyed vicariously — the
sweet, subtle satisfaction without the risk.
--Elbert Hubbard (1859—1915)
American editor, publisher, and author who died in the sinking of the "Lusitania".
"The Philistine" (mag.) [August 1904]

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It is better a man should be abused than forgotten.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
Quoted in Hester Lynch Piozzi
_The Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson_ [1786].


Johnson observed that, 'he did not care to speak ill of
any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman
was an *attorney.*'
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
In James Boswell, _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ (Entry of 1770) [1791].


A man had rather have a hundred lies told of him than
one truth which he does not wish should be told.
--Samuel Johnson (1709—1784)
English poet, critic, and lexicographer.
[April 1773] entry in James Boswell _The Life of Samuel Johnson_ [1791].

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And there's a lust in man no charm can tame,
Of loudly publishing our neighbor's shame;
On eagles' wings immortal scandals fly,
While virtuous actions are but born to die.
--Juvenal (c. 55—130)
Roman satirist.
_Satires_, # IX

Bad news travels fast.
--"Lady's Book" [1 October 1830]

[Motto embroidered on her sofa cushion:]
If you can't say something good about
anyone, sit right here by me.
--Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884—1980)
Daughter of Theodore Roosevelt.



There are different ways of assassinating a man —
by pistol, sword, poison, or moral assassination.
They are the same in their results except the last
is more cruel.
--Napoleon I (1769—1821)
Emperor of France [1804—1815].
In _Napoleon in His Own Words: From the French of Jules Bertaut_ [1916].

You do not know it but you are the talk of all the town.
--Ovid [Publius Ovidius Naso] (43 B.C.—18 A.D.)
Roman poet.
"The Art of Love" III, 1, 21.

I lay it down as a fact that if all men knew what
others say of them, there would not be four
friends in the world.
--Blaise Pascal (1623—1662)
French mathematician, physicist, and moralist.
_Pensιes_ ("Thoughts"), no. 646 [1658]

Let us believe neither half of the good people
tell us of ourselves, nor half the evil they say
of others.
--Jean-Antoine Petit-Senn (1792—1870)
French-Swiss lyric poet.
Quoted in Julia B. Hoitt
_Excellent Quotations For Home and School_, p. 149 [1890].

You tittle-tattlers, and those who listen to slander,
by my good will should all be hanged — the former
by their tongues, the latter by their ears.
--Titus Maccius Plautus (254—184 BC)
Roman comic dramatist.
_Pseudolus_, I. 5. 12.

At every word a reputation dies.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_The Rape of the Lock_, canto III, l. 16 [1712]

Throw dirt enough, and some will stick.
--_A letter from a Catholick gentleman to his Popish friends_ [6 November 1678]

Let the greatest part of the news thou hearest
be the least part of what thou believest.
--Francis Quarles (1592—1644)
English poet.
_Enchiridion_ [1640]

Of every ten persons who talk about you,
nine will say something bad, and the tenth
will say something good in a bad way.
--attributed to Antoine de Rivarol (1753—1801)
French man of letters.

No one gossips about other people's secret virtues.
--Bertrand Russell (1872—1970)
British philosopher, mathematician, and Nobel laureate.
_Education and the Good Life_ [1926]

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Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow,
thou shall not escape calumny.
--William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist.
_Hamlet_ [1601]


Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls:
Who steals my purse steals trash; 'tis something, nothing:
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.
--"Iago" in William Shakespeare (1564—1616)
English dramatist,
_Othello_ [1602—1604]

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It seems that the analysis of character is the highest
human entertainment. And literature does it, unlike
gossip, without mentioning real names.
--Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904—1991)
Polish-American novelist who won the 1978 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Interview with Richard Burgin in
_The New York Times Magazine_ [26 November 1978].

Whoever gossips to you, will gossip of you.
--Spanish proverb

Never speak ill of yourself; your friends
will always say enough on that subject.
--Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Pιrigord (1754—1838)
French statesman.
Attributed in Herbert Victor Prochnow
_Speaker's Handbook of Epigrams and Witticisms_[1955].

There are two things that will be believed
of any man whatsoever, and one of them
is that he has taken to drink.
--Booth Tarkington (1869—1946)
American novelist and dramatist.
_Penrod_ [1914]

Every man hath in his own life sins enough, in his own mind trouble
enough, in his own fortune evils enough, and in performance of his
offices failings more than enough, to entertain his own inquiry; so
that curiosity after the affairs of others cannot be without envy, and
an evil mind. What is it to me, if my neighbour's grandfather were a
Syrian, or his grandmother illegitimate; or that another is indebted
five thousand pounds, or whether his wife be expensive?
--Jeremy Taylor (1613—1667)
English Anglican clergyman and writer.
_The Rules and Exercises of Holy Living_ [1650]

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Speak not Evil of the absent for it is unjust.
--George Washington (1732—1799)
American general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies in the American
Revolution [1775—1783] and first president of the United States [1789—1797].
[Copybook 1748]

similarly:

I never say anything of a man that I have
the smallest scruple of saying to him.
--attributed to George Washington (1732—1799)
American general and commander-in-chief of the colonial armies in the American
Revolution [1775—1783] and first president of the United States [1789—1797].

-

Everyone realizes that one can believe little of what people
say about each other. But it is not so widely realized that
even less can one trust what people say about themselves.
--Dame Rebecca West [Cecily Isabel Fairfiield] (1892—1983)
English journalist, novelist, and critic.
"Sunday Telegraph" (London) [1975]

There is only one thing in the world worse than
being talked about, and that is not being talked
about.
--Oscar Wilde (1854—1900)
Anglo-Irish dramatist and poet.
_The Picture of Dorian Gray_, ch. I [1891]

Gossip is when you hear something
you like about someone you don't.
--Earl Wilson (1907—1987)
American newspaper columnist.
Attributed in "Reader's Digest" [1978].

I usually get my stuff from people who promised
somebody else that they would keep it a secret.
--attributed to Walter Winchell (1897—1972)
American journalist.

-

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss
events; Small minds discuss people.
--anon.
Hyman G. Rickover in _The Saturday Evening Post_ of 28
November 1959 credits the saying to an "unknown sage".

More people are run down by gossip than by automobiles.
--anon.

It isn't difficult to make a mountain out
of a molehill — just add a little dirt.
--anon.

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it ill behooves any of us,
To say anything about the rest of us.
--anon.
In _Notes and Queries_ [1850].

-----

scuttlebutt [SKUHT-l-buht], noun:
1. A drinking fountain on a ship.
2. A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water.
3. Informal. Gossip; rumor.

yenta (noun) [ 'yen-tκ]
A nosy, meddlesome woman; a gabby, gossipy busy-body.




GOVERNMENT

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see: "POLITICS" for related links

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Fear is the foundation of most governments.
--John Adams (1735—1826)
First VP and second President of the United States.
_Thoughts on Government_ [1776]


There is but one element of government, and that is *the
people.* From this element spring all governments. For a
nation to be free, it is only necessary that she wills it. For
a nation to be slave, it is only necessary that she wills it.
--John Adams (1735—1826)
First VP and second President of the United States.
Letter to John Taylor [1814].

-

There can not a greater judgment befall a country
than such a dreadful spirit of division as rends a
government into two distinct people, and makes
them greater strangers and more averse to one
another than if they were actually two different
nations.
--Joseph Addison (1672—1719)
English essayist, poet, and dramatist.
_The Spectator_ [24 July 1711]

In a change of government the poor change
nothing but the name of their masters.
--Ζsop (c. 620 B.C.—c. 560 B.C.)
(Thought to be a legendary figure.)
_Ζsop's Fables_ "The Ass and the Old Shepherd"

[The War Office kept three sets of figures:] one to
mislead the public, another to mislead the Cabinet,
and the third to mislead itself.
--H(erbert) H(enry) Asquith (1852—1928)
Liberal prime minister of Great Britain [1908—1916].
In Alistair Horne _Price of Glory_ [1962].

When any of the four pillars of government are
mainly shaken, or weakened — which are religion,
justice, counsel and treasure — men had need to
pray for fair weather.
--Francis Bacon (1561—1626)
English philosopher and essayist.
"Of Seditions And Troubles" in _Essays_ [1625].

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody
endeavours to live at the expense of everybody else.
--Frιdιric Bastiat (1801—1850)
French economist.
_Selected Essays on Political Economy_ [1848] "Government"

Our government is built upon the vote. But votes that
are purchasable are quicksands, and a government
built on them stands upon corruption and revolution.
--Henry Ward Beecher (1813—1887)
American Congregational minister; brother of
Harriet Beecher Stowe, son of Lyman Beecher.
_Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit_ [1887] "Political"

Our American system of government by lobbyist guarantees
us a form of taxation with representation that the founding
fathers did not foresee: special interests get the representation
while the broad public gets the taxation.
--Alan S. Blinder (b. 1945)
American economist.
_Hard Head, Soft Hearts: Tough-Minded Economics for a Just Society_ [1987]

-

Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect
liberty when the Government's purposes are beneficent. Men
born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their
liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty
lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning
but without understanding.
--Louis Brandeis (1856—1941)
American lawyer and associate justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court [1916—1939].
Dissenting opinion "Olmstead v. United States" [1928].


The makers of our Constitution [...] conferred, as
against the Government, the right to be let alone —
the most comprehensive of rights and the right
most valued by civilized men.
--Louis Brandeis (1856—1941)
American lawyer and associate justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court [1916—1939].
Dissenting opinion "Olmstead v. United States" [1928].


If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt
for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it
invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the
criminal law the end justifies the means — to declare that
the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the
conviction of a private criminal — would bring terrible
retribution.
--Louis Brandeis (1856—1941)
American lawyer and associate justice of
the U.S. Supreme Court [1916—1939].
Dissenting opinion "Olmstead v. United States" [1928].

-

A wise man distrusts his neighbor. A wiser man distrusts
both his neighbor and himself. The wisest man of all
distrusts his government.
--Taylor Caldwell [Janet Taylor Caldwell] (1900—1985)
American novelist born in England; she also
wrote under the pseudonym of Max Reiner.
_The Devil's Advocate_ [1952]

[Of government:]
Its office is not to confer happiness, but to
give men opportunity to work out happiness
for themselves.
--William Ellery Channing (1780—1842)
American Unitarian clergyman and author.
"Remarks on the Life and Character of Napolean Bonaparte" [1827-1828]

-

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried
in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy
is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy
is the worst form of government except all those other forms
that have been tried from time to time.
--Winston Churchill (1874—1965)
British Conservative statesman and Prime Minister [1940—1945, 1951—1955].
Speech, House of Commons [11 November 1947].


This report, by its very length, defends
itself against the risk of being read.
--attributed to Winston Churchill (1874—1965)
British Conservative statesman and Prime Minister [1940—1945, 1951—1955].

-

A public debt is a kind of anchor in the storm;
but if the anchor be too heavy for the vessel,
she will be sunk by that very weight which
was intended for her preservation.
--C.C. Colton (1780—1832)
English clergyman and writer.
_Lacon: or, Many Things in Few Words_, footnote to CLXVII [1820]

Depotism has forever had a powerful hold upon the world.
Autocratic government, not self-government, has been the
prevailing state of mankind. It needs to be remembered that
the record of past history is the record, not of the success
of republics, but of their failure.
--Calvin Coolidge (1872—1933)
American Republican statesman and President [1923—1929].
"The Destiny of America" Speech in Northhampton, Mass. [30 May 1923].

We campaign in poetry, but when we're
elected we're forced to govern in prose.
--Mario Cuomo (b. 1932)
American lawyer and politician.
Speech at Yale University, New Haven, Conn. [15 February 1985].

The Russian government is an absolute
monarchy tempered by assassination.
--Astolphe Louis Leonard, Marquis de Custine (1790—1857)
French writer, playwright, poet and traveler.
_La Russie en 1839_, vol I [1843]

Government has hardened into a tyrannical
monopoly, and the human race in general
becomes as absolutely property as beasts
in the plow.
--John Dickinson (1732—1808)
American politician.
In a letter to Thomas McKean [22 November 1802].

Every form of government tends to perish
by excess of its basic principle.
--Will Durant (1885—1981)
American philosopher and writer.
_The Story of Philosophy_ [1926] "Plato"

In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or
unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential
for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will
persist. We must never let the weight of this combination
endanger our liberties or democratic processes.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890—1969),
American Army General, supreme Allied commander WWII,
NATO commander, American President [1953—1961].
"Farewell Speech" [17 January 1961]

The less government we have, the better, the fewer
laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to
this abuse of formal government is, the influence
of private character, the growth of the Individual.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803—1882)
American philosopher and poet.
_The Emerson Birthday-Book_ [1882] "January 20"

-

The state is like the human body. Not
all of its functions are dignified.
--Anatole France [Jacques Anatole Thibault] (1844—1924)
French novelist, man of letters, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921.
_Les Opinions de M. Jerome Coignard_ [1893]


A people living under the perpetual menace of war and
invasion is very easy to govern. It demands no social
reforms. It does not haggle over expenditures on
armaments and military equipment. It pays without
discussion, it ruins itself, and that is an excellent thing
for the syndicates of financiers and manufacturers for
whom patriotic terrors are an abundant source of gain.
--Anatole France [Jacques Anatole Thibault] (1844—1924)
French novelist, man of letters, and winner of the Nobel
Prize for Literature in 1921.
Quoted in "The Forum" [1938].

-

Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.
--Milton Friedman (1912—2006)
American laissez-faire economist; winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economics.
Quote in _Cleveland Plain Dealer_ [27 October 1993].

I look upon an increase of the power of the State with
the greatest fear, because although while apparently
doing good by minimizing exploitation, it does the
greatest harm to mankind by destroying individuality,
which lies at the root of all progress. We know of
so many cases where men have adopted trusteeship,
but none where the State has really lived for the
poor.
--Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869—1948)
Indian statesman and leader of the nationalistic movement against British rule.
Interview to Nirmal Kumar Bose in
_The Hindustan Times_ [17 October 1935].

The proper function of a government is to make it
easy for people to do good, and difficult for them
to do evil.
--William Gladstone (1809—1898)
British Liberal statesman, Prime Minister
[1868—1874, 1880—1885, 1892—1894].
Quoted in Tryon Edwards _A Dictionary of Thoughts_, p. 203 [1908 ed.].

[During the 1964 campaign:]
A government that is big enough to give you
all you want is big enough to take it all away.
--Barry Goldwater (1909—1998)
American politician.
Quoted in Thomas Andrew Bailey
_Democrats vs. Republicans: The Continuing Clash_ [1968].

Why has government been instituted at all? Because the
passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason
and justice, without constraint.
--Alexander Hamilton (1755or57—1804)
New York delegate to the Constitutional Convention,
major author of the _Federalist Papers_, and first
secretary of the Treasury of the United States [1789-1795].
_The Federalist_ [1787-1788] no.15

I believe and I say it is true Democratic feeling, that
all the measures of the Government are directed to
the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor
poorer.
--William Henry Harrison (1773—1841)
American army officer and 9th President of the United States [1841].
Speech [1 October 1840].

The government is mainly an expensive organization to regulate
evildoers, and tax those who behave; government does little for
fairly respectable people except annoy them.
--Edgar Watson Howe (1854—1937)
American journalist and author.
_Notes for My Biographer_ [1926]

-

The impersonal hand of government can never
replace the helping hand of a neighbor.
--Hubert H. Humphrey (1911—1978)
38th vice-president of the United States [1965—1969]
and liberal senator [1949—1965] & [1971—1978].
Quoted in "The Lutheran" [1977].


It was once said that the moral test of government is
how that government treats those who are in the dawn
of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of
life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows
of life, the sick, the needy, and the handicapped.
--Hubert H. Humphrey (1911—1978)
38th vice-president of the United States [1965—1969]
and liberal senator [1949—1965] & [1971—1978].
Speech at dedication of Hubert H. Humphrey
Building, Washington, D.C. [1 November 1977].

-

The duties of all public officers are, or at least, admit of
being made, so plain and simple that men of intelligence
may readily qualify themselves for their performance;
and I cannot but believe that more is lost by the long
continuance of men in office than is generally to be
gained by their experience.
--Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory) (1767—1845)
American military hero and 7th president
of the United States [1829—1837].
Speech to Congress [8 December 1829].

-

The legitimate powers of government extend
to such acts only as are injurious to others.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
"Notes on the State of Virginia" 17, [1785]


The basis of our government being the opinion of
the people, the very first object should be to keep
that right; and were it left to me to decide whether
we should have a government without newspapers,
or newspapers without a government, I should not
hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Colonel Edward Carrington [16 January 1787].


The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on
certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Abigail Adams [22 February 1787], as quoted in Paul Leicester
Ford _The Writings of Thomas Jefferson 1784-1787_, vol. IV [1894].


But with all the imperfections of our present
government, it is without comparison the best
existing, or that ever did exist.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Edward Carrington [4 August 1787].


The natural progress of things is for liberty
to yield and government to gain ground.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Edward Carrington [27 May 1788].


A wise and frugal Government, which shall refrain
men from injuring one another, shall leave them
otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of
industry and improvement, and shall not take
from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
This is the sum of good government.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
First Inaugural Address [4 March 1801].


The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under
the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Samuel Kerchival [12 July 1816].


Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the
general welfare but only those specifically enumerated.
--Thomas Jefferson (1743—1826)
American statesman and president [1801—1809].
Letter to Albert Gallatin [16 June 1817].

-

Government action is not the whole answer to the present crisis,
but it is an important partial answer. Morals cannot be legislated,
but behavior can be regulated. The law cannot make an employer
love me, but it can keep him from refusing to hire me because of
the color of my skin.
--Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929—1968)
American civil rights leader.
_Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story_ ch. II [1958]

-

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

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

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not
expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease
to be divided.

It will become all one thing, or all the other.

--Abraham Lincoln (1809—1865)
American Republican statesman, President [1861—1865].
"House Divided" speech in the Lincoln-Douglas debate,
Springfield, Illinois [16 June 1858].

-

The great and *chief end*, therefore, of Men's uniting
into Commonwealths, and putting themselves under
Government, *is the Preservation of their Property*.
--John Locke (1632—1704)
English political and educational philosopher.
_Two Treatises of Government_ [1690]

Because it is difficult to join them together, it is
much safer for a prince to be feared than loved,
if he is to fail in one of the two.
--Niccolς Machiavelli (1469—1527)
Florentine statesman and political philosopher.
_The Prince_ [written 1513]

-

Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there
are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of
the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those
in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.
--James Madison (1751—1836)
Fourth president of the United States [1809—1817].
In a speech in the Virginia Convention [16 June 1788].


I go on the principle that a public debt is a public curse,
and in a Republican Government a greater curse than
in any other.
--James Madison (1751—1836)
Fourth president of the United States [1809—1817].
Letter to Henry Lee [13 April 1790].


Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.
--James Madison (1751—1836)
Fourth president of the United States [1809—1817].
Comments in House of Representatives [10 January 1794], as quoted
in _The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of
the Federal Constitution_ comp. by Jonathan Elliot [2nd ed., 1836].


If men were virtuous, there would
be no need of governments at all.
--James Madison (1751—1836)
Fourth president of the United States [1809—1817].
Quoted in Alistair Cooke _America_ [1973].

-

Every country has the government it deserves.
--Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre (1753—1821)
French diplomat and writer.
Letter of 15 August 1811.

Hope nothing from foreign governments. They will never be
really willing to aid you until you have shown that you are
strong enough to conquer without them.
--Giuseppe Mazzini (1805—1872)
Italian patriot, philosopher and politician.
In _Life and Writings_, ch. 2 "Young Italy"
[Hurd & Houghton, New York, 1872].

-

The Bill of Rights was designed trustfully to prohibit forever
two of the favorite crimes of all known governments: the
seizure of private property without adaquate compensation
and the invasion of the citizen's liberty without justifiable
cause and due process.
--H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956)
American journalist and literary critic.
_Prejudices: Fourth Series_ [1924] "On Government"


The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you
and me. They have, taking one with another, no special
talent for the business of government; they have only a
talent for getting and holding office. Their principal device
to that end is to search out groups who pant and pine for
something they can't get and to promise to give it to them.
Nine times out of ten that promise is worth nothing. The
tenth time is made good by looting A to satisfy B. In other
words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election
is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.
--H.L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (1880—1956)
American journalist and literary critic.
In Malcolm Moos (ed.)
_H.L. Mencken, On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe_ [1960].

-

Look, I'm for capitalism. All the other systems have worked out about
as well as a Lee Greenwood booking in Baghdad. But we need to start
holding government, the big teat, tittie el grande, mammary avec collosso,
capo di titti immensia . . . boobus gigandus, titasaurus rex, the Hindenboob,
oh, the humammary, anyway, government, we need to start holding it, did
I mention the sweater meat mountains, and the brave Sherpas who died
on the north face of their aureola glacier fields, well, like I was saying,
we need to start holding government accountable for the equitable
distribution of the tax money they harvest.
--Dennis Miller (b. 1953)
American stand-up comedian & actor.
_Ranting Again_ [1998], (Ellipsis as written)

-

Republics end through luxury; monarchies through poverty.
--Baron de Montesquieu (Charles Louis de Secondat) (1689—1755)
French philosopher, jurist, and satirist.
_De l'Esprit des lois_ (The Spirit of the Laws), VII, ch. IV [1748]


The deterioration of a government begins
almost always by the decay of its principles.
--Baron de Montesquieu (Charles Louis de Secondat) (1689—1755)
French philosopher, jurist, and satirist.
_De l'Esprit des lois_ (The Spirit of the Laws), VIII, ch. I [1748]

-

The whole idea of our government is this: If enough
people get together and act in concert, they can take
something and not pay for it.
--P.J. O'Rourke (b. 1947)
American political satirist.
_Parliament of Whores_ [1991]

Big Brother is watching you.
--George Orwell [Eric Blair] (1903—1950)
English novelist.
_Nineteen Eighty-Four_ pt. I, ch. 5 [1949]

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even
in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state
an intolerable one.
--Thomas Paine [spelled Pane prior to 1774] (1737—1809)
English-American writer and political pamphleteer.
_Common Sense_ [1776]

-

The American system is not a democracy. It is a
constitutional republic. A democracy, if you attach
meaning to terms, is a system of unlimited majority
rule; the classic example is ancient Athens. And the
symbol of it is the fate of Socrates, who was put to
death legally, because the majority didn't like what
he was saying, although he had initiated no force
and had violated no one's rights.

Democracy, in short, is a form of collectivism, which
denies individual rights: the majority can do whatever
it wants with no restrictions. In principle, the
democratic government is all-powerful. Democracy
is a totalitarian manifestation; it is not a form of
freedom. ...

The American system is a constitutionally limited
republic, restricted to the protection of individual
rights. In such a system, majority rule is applicable
only to lesser details, such as the selection of certain
personnel. But the majority has no say over the basic
principles governing the government. It has no power
to ask for or gain the infringement of individual rights.

--Leonard Peikoff (b. 1933)
Canadian-born American philosopher.
_The Philosophy of Objectivism_, Lecture 9 [1976]

-

-

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 (1811—1884)
American abolitionist and reformer.
In a speech in Boston, Massachusetts [21 December 1860].


Debt is the fatal disease of republics, the first thing
and the mightiest to undermine government and
corrupt the people.
--Wendell Phillips (1811—1884)
American abolitionist and reformer.
"The War for the Union", a lecture delivered in Boston & New York [December 1861].

-

The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse
to take part in the government, is to live under the
government of worse men.
--Plato (427?—347 B.C.)
Greek philosopher.
Quoted in Ralph Waldo Emerson _Society and Solitude_ [1870] "Eloquence."

-

In the present crisis, government is not the solution
to our problem; government is the problem.
--Ronald Reagan (1911—2004)
American President [1981—1989] and former Hollywood actor.
Inaugural Address [20 January 1981].


Government exists to protect us from each other. We can't
afford the government it would take to protect us from
ourselves.
--Ronald Reagan (1911—2004)
American President [1981—1989] and former Hollywood actor.
Quoted in Laurence I. Barrett
_Gambling with History: Reagan in the White House [1983].


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 (1911—2004)
American President [1981—1989] and former Hollywood actor.
Remarks to State Chairperson at the White House
Conference on Small Busines [15 August 1986].
*Before he was elected.

-

If we do not halt this steady process of building
commissions and regulatory bodies and special
legislation like huge inverted pyramids over every
one of the simple constitutional provisions, we
shall soon be spending many billions of dollars
more.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882—1945)
American Democratic statesman and President [1933—1945].
In a radio address [2 March 1930].
(Roosevelt had just noted that the annual
federal budget was 3 1/2 billion dollars - GBAQ.)

-

I do not believe in government ownership of anything
which can with propriety be left in private hands, and
in particular I should most strenuously object to
government ownership of railroads.
--Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919)
American Republican statesman and President [1901—1909].
In a speech in Raleigh, North Carolina [19 October 1905].


Everything is un-American that tends either to government
by a plutocracy, or government by a mob. To divide along
the lines of section or caste or creed is un-American. All
privilege based on wealth, and all enmity to honest men
merely because they are wealthy, are un-American —
both of them equally so. Americanism means the virtues of
courage, honor, justice, truth, sincerity, and hardihood —
the virtues that made America. The things that will destroy
America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price,
safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living,
and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
--Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919)
American Republican statesman and President [1901—1909].
In a letter to S. Stanwood Menken [10 January 1917].


The President is merely the most important among a large number of
public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the
degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his
efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested
service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary
that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and
this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does
wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an
American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there
must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the
President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is
morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth
should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more
important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than
about any one else.
--Theodore Roosevelt (1858—1919)
American Republican statesman and President [1901—1909].
_The Works of Theodore Roosevelt_, v. 19, ch. 7, p. 289 [1926]

-

-

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul
can always depend on the support of Paul.
--George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish comic dramatist, literary critic, Socialist
propagandist, and winner of the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1925 [he didn't accept it.]
_Everybody's Political What's What?_, ch. 30 [1944]


You have to choose between trusting in the natural
stability of gold and the honesty and intelligence
of the members of government. And with all due
respect for those gentlemen, I advise you, as long
as the capitalist system lasts, vote for gold.
--attributed to George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish dramatist and critic.

-

Pray for the welfare of the government, for if not for
the fear of the government, a man would swallow up
his neighbor alive.
--Talmud (A.D.1st—6th cent.)
Rabbinical writings.

I've still got a lot to learn about Washington.
Why, yesterday I accidentally spent some of
my own money.
--Fred Thompson (b. 1942)
American actor and politician.
Quoted in Robert Dole _Great Political Wit_, p. 113 [2000].

-

Government never of itself furthered any enterprise,
but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862)
American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher.
_Civil Disobedience_ (essay) [1849]


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.
--Henry David Thoreau (1817—1862)
American essayist, poet, and practical philosopher.
_Civil Disobedience_ (essay) [1849]

-

Whenever you have an efficient government, you have a dictatorship.
--Harry S Truman (1884—1972)
American Democratic statesman, President of the U.S. [1945—1953].
Lecture at Columbia University [28 April 1959].

In general the art of government consists in
taking as much money as possible from one
class of citizens to give to the other.
--Voltaire (Franηois Marie Arouet) (1694—1778)
French writer and philosopher.
"Money", _Philosophical Dictionary_ [1764]

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence —
it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant,
and a fearful master.
--George Washington (1732—1799)
American general and commander-in-chief of the
colonial armies in the American Revolution [1775—1783]
and first president of the United States [1789—1797].
Attributed in _The Christian Science Journal_ [November 1902].

-

Every culture has its distinctive and normal system of government. Yours
is democracy, moderated by corruption. Ours is totalitarianism, moderated
by assassination.
--attributed to anon. Russian

-----

interregnum [in-tuhr-REG-nuhm], noun
The interval between two reigns; any period
when a state is left without a ruler.

laissez-faire (adj.) [lez-ey-'fer]
A governmental policy of non-interference in a free-enterprise
system; by extension, a policy of not interfering with anyone's
choices or actions.

oligarchy (noun)
A small governing group: a small group of people who
together govern a nation or control an organization,
often for their own purposes.

plutocracy (noun)
Rule by the wealthy: the rule of a society by its
wealthiest people.

quorum (noun)
Minimum number required for valid meeting: a fixed minimum
percentage or number of members of a legislative assembly,
committee, or other organization who must be present before
the members can conduct valid business.


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