The document contains a collection of quotes from various historical figures critiquing government overreach and advocating for limited government. Many of the quotes warn about the dangers of large, powerful government that overtaxes citizens and grows beyond its proper role. They argue that too much government intervention in the economy can undermine individual liberty and prosperity.
2. “You Cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing It”
“Friends, you cannot legislate the poor into freedom by
legislating the wealthy out of freedom. And what one person
receives without working for, another person must work for
without receiving. The government can’t give to anybody
anything that the government does not first take from
somebody. And when half of the people get the idea they
don’t have to work because the other half’s going to take
care of them, and when the other half get the idea it does no
good to work because somebody’s going to get what I work
for. That, dear friend, is about the end of any nation.”
— Dr. Adrian Rogers (1931-2005)
American Pastor, Conservative,
Author, and a Three-Term President
of the Southern Baptist Convention
3. “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul
can always depend on the support of Paul.”
- George Bernard Shaw
4. “Government is the great fiction, through which
everybody endeavors to live at the expense of
everybody else.”
- Frederic Bastiat,
French Economist (1801-1850)
5. “In general, the art of government consists
of taking as much money as possible from
one party of the citizens to give to the
other.”
- Voltaire (1764)
6. “Beware of those who seek to take care
of you lest they become your jailers.”
- Jim Rohn
7. “A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to
his fellow man... which debt he proposes to pay
off with your money.”
- G. Gordon Liddy
8. “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal
sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of
socialism is the equal sharing of misery.”
- Winston Churchill
9. “Democracy must be something more than two
wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for
dinner.”
-James Bovard,
Civil Libertarian (1994)
10. “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into
prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and
trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
- Winston Churchill
11. “The only difference between a tax man and
a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves
the skin.”
- Mark Twain
12. 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 (1986)
13. “If you think health care is expensive now,
wait until you see what it costs when it's
free!”
- P.J. O'Rourke
14. “I don't make jokes. I just watch the
government and report the facts.”
- Will Rogers
15. “Giving money and power to government is like
giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.”
- P.J. O'Rourke
Civil Libertarian
16. “Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you
were a member of Congress. But then I repeat
myself.”
- Mark Twain
17. “Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of
money from poor people in rich countries to rich
people in poor countries.”
- Douglas Casey,
Author, Economist, Classmate of Bill
Clinton at Georgetown University
18. “Just because you do not take an interest in
politics doesn't mean politics won't take an
interest in you!”
- Pericles (430 B.C.)
19. “No man's life, liberty, or property is safe
while the legislature is in session.”
- Mark Twain (1866)
21. “There is no distinctly native American criminal
class... save Congress.”
-Mark Twain
22. “What this country needs are more unemployed
politicians.”
-Edward Langley (1928 - 1995)
Artist
23. “The ultimate result of shielding men from the
effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”
- Herbert Spencer
English Philosopher (1820-1903)
24. “Government is not the solution to our problem;
Government is the problem. If no one among us
is capable of governing himself, then who among
us has the capacity to govern someone else?”
- Ronald Reagan
First Inaugural Address, 1/20/1981
25. Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to
our liberties than standing armies. If the American people
ever allow private banks (and the Federal Reserve is a
private bank) to control the issue of their currency, first by
inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that
will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all
property until their children wake-up homeless on the
continent their fathers conquered.”
Quotes from a Democrat
Thomas Jefferson
26. “A government big enough
to give you everything you want,
is strong enough to take everything you have.”
Quotes from a Democrat
Thomas Jefferson
27. “To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the
propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is
sinful and tyrannical.”
“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away
from those who are willing to work and give to those who
would not.”
“It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as
it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half
the wars of the world.”
Quotes from a Democrat
Thomas Jefferson
28. “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can
prevent the government from wasting the labors of the
people under the pretense of taking care of them.”
“My reading of history convinces me that most bad
government results from too much government.”
“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in
Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.”
Quotes from a Democrat
Thomas Jefferson
29. “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time
with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”
“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.”
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to
keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect
themselves against tyranny in government.”
Quotes from a Democrat
Thomas Jefferson
30. “If you don’t read the newspaper,
you are uninformed;
if you do read the newspaper,
you are misinformed.”
Quotes from
Mark Twain