The government, whether state or central, is elected. That means we have a responsibility to elect the right kind of leaders.

A whole people with the ballot in their hands possess the most conclusive and unlimited power ever entrusted to humanity.

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state.

As a mom, I know it is my responsibility, and no one else’s, to raise my kids. But we have to ask ourselves, what does it mean when so many parents are finding their best efforts undermined by an avalanche of advertisements aimed at our kids.

I’m asking myself, ‚What do my girls, what do all our children deserve in their president? What kind of a president do we want for them?‘ Well, to start with, I think we want someone who is a unifying force in this country: someone who sees our differences not as a threat, but as a blessing.

Democracy is our commitment. It is our great legacy, a legacy we simply cannot compromise. Democracy is in our DNA.

The key is to vote because we need a vote to put the people in power that we want to represent us.

It may be laid down as a primary position, and the basis of our system, that every Citizen who enjoys the protection of a Free Government, owes not only a proportion of his property, but even of his personal services to the defense of it.

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.

For the record, our democracy is revered around the world. And free elections are the best way on Earth to choose our leaders. This is how we elected John F. Kennedy; Ronald Reagan; two George Bushes; Bill Clinton; and Barack Obama. It has worked for decades.

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another.

Being prime minister is a lonely job… you cannot lead from the crowd.

When I came to Delhi and noticed an insider view, I felt what it was, and I was surprised to see it. It seemed as if dozens of separate governments are running at the same time in one main government. It appeared that everyone has its own fiefdom.

I repeat… that all power is a trust; that we are accountable for its exercise; that from the people and for the people all springs, and all must exist.

Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

You cannot be in a position of power and destroy the life of another person.

The U.S. and its allies will do anything they can to prevent authentic democracy in the Arab world.

We should all be obliged to appear before a board every five years and justify our existence… on pain of liquidation.

I try to speak plainly so that my constituents who don’t follow the nuances of government like I do, because they’re too busy earning a real living, can understand the issues before me. None of this stuff is brain surgery.

The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.

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.

Remember, it is not about voting for the perfect candidate – there is no such thing. Presidents are human.

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.

The art of government is the organisation of idolatry.

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples‘ money.

No duty the Executive had to perform was so trying as to put the right man in the right place.

A lot of people have a sense-of-entitlement mentality that somebody else ought to do these things for them. People are mad at the government for not getting jobs for them. I don’t understand why it’s the government’s responsibility.

To some extent I happily don’t know what I’m doing. I feel that it’s an artist’s responsibility to trust that.

It is necessary for him who lays out a state and arranges laws for it to presuppose that all men are evil and that they are always going to act according to the wickedness of their spirits whenever they have free scope.

The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.

Where there is a free government, and the people make their own laws by their representatives, I see no injustice in their obliging one another to take their own paper money.

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

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.

Act well your part, there all the honour lies.

We all hoped in 2001 that we could put in place an Afghan government under President Karzai that would be able to control the country, make sure al-Qaeda didn’t come back, and make sure the Taliban wasn’t resurging. It didn’t work out.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

With Benghazi, I don’t see anyone saying, ‚Hey look, I am overall responsible for this and therefore, I take responsibility for what happened. It’s my fault.‘ I haven’t heard that yet. Meanwhile, the other side of the coin, the Osama bin Laden raid, it seems everyone made that decision, and that’s just unbelievable to me.

It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized and united for specific action, and a minority can.

There is no kind of dishonesty into which otherwise good people more easily and frequently fall than that of defrauding the government.

I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.

China has to go along with world trends. That’s democracy, liberty, individual freedom. China sooner or later has to go that way. It cannot go backward.

Adultery is the application of democracy to love.

I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.

Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

Even if the politics needed doesn’t exist today, we still need to use our voices to make sure that the people in power are focused on the right things. Because this is a democracy, and in a democracy, people are the ones who run the country.

One of the peculiarities of Delhi is that the term ‚reform‘ is associated only with passing of laws in Parliament. In fact, the most important reforms are those needed, without new laws, at various level of the government, in work practices and procedures.

The measure of a man is what he does with power.

When I have been asked during these last weeks who caused the riots and the killing in L.A., my answer has been direct and simple: Who is to blame for the riots? The rioters are to blame. Who is to blame for the killings? The killers are to blame.

I think it’s important to vote.

There’s no such thing as going to a soapbox and saying, ‚The government’s corrupt,‘ and not having the intelligence service see your face. In the digital world, that can be done.

I think one of the great things about the United States has been our ability to maintain a distinction between our military and domestic law enforcement.

A candidate is not going to suddenly change once they get into office. Just the opposite, in fact. Because the minute that individual takes that oath, they are under the hottest, harshest light there is. And there is no way to hide who they really are.

I don’t want to express my opinion about actual politics, because if I do, I have to be responsible for my decision.

The Oklahoma City bombing was simple technology, horribly used. The problem is not technology. The problem is the person or persons using it.

Well, I have great respect for Senator Hirono.

I don’t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves.

We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. That is our permanent state.