Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. – Thomas Jefferson
The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. – Thomas Jefferson
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. – Thomas Jefferson
History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is. – Thomas Jefferson
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. – Dwight D. Eisenhower
When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home. – Winston Churchill
The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. – Thomas Jefferson
Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government. – Thomas Jefferson
I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive. – Thomas Jefferson
An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger. – Confucius
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. – Thomas Jefferson
That government is the strongest of which every man feels himself a part. – Thomas Jefferson
No government ought to be without censors and where the press is free no one ever will. – Thomas Jefferson
Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. – Theodore Roosevelt
The second office in the government is honorable and easy the first is but a splendid misery. – Thomas Jefferson
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
Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets. – Ronald Reagan
Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically the only excuse the government has for even existing. – Ronald Reagan
Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. – George Washington
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable. – H. L. Mencken
