Limited Government Quotes

I was born a limited-government person. I've always had this streak going through me. ~ Joe Lhota

A laconic Texas lawmaker declined to use his considerable influence to intervene in a loud dispute between his colleagues. When asked why not, he said, They're not voting. If they're not voting, they're not passing any laws. If they're not passing any laws, they're not hurting anybody. ~ Robert A. Caro

Tyranny is always better organized than freedom. ~ Charles Peguy

I, sir, have always conceived - I believe those who proposed the constitution conceived,and it is still more fully known, and more material to observe, those who ratified the constitution conceived, that this is not an indefinite government deriving its powers from the general terms prefixed to the specified powers - but, a limited government tied down to the specified powers, which explain and define the general terms. ~ James Madison

When the tyrant has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing more to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader. ~ Plato

They're lots of good Americans here in New York who have common sense and who believe in free markets and free people and limited government under our Constitution. Those are the principles I've always stood for. I know they're right, and that's what I'm going to stand for. ~ Wendy E. Long

Because the state uses violence to achieve its ends, and there is no rational end to the use of violence, states grow until they destroy civilized interactions through the corruption of money, contracts, honesty, family and self-reliance.

No state in history has ever been contained.

It's only taken a little more than a century for the US – founded on the idea of limited government, to break the bonds of the constitution, institute the income tax, take control of the money supply and the educational system and begin its catastrophic expansion. ~ Stefan Molyneux

We ought to have more people who believe in constitutionally limited government. We have to have more people come to Congress with that mindset. I think we can make this a better place, if, when elections happen, we support candidates who share that philosophy. ~ Mike Lee

I am a Republican because I believe in the constitution, strength in national defense, limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility as the concrete foundation for American government. They reinforce the resolve that the United States is the greatest country in the world and we can all be eternally grateful to our founding fathers for the beautiful legacy they left us today. ~ Martha Raye

I follow a set of principles, I follow the Constitution. And that's what I base my votes on. Limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty. ~ Justin Amash

Citizens ... should be practitioners of civic virtue in their conduct toward government. They should be ever willing to fulfill the duties of citizenship. This includes compulsory duties like military service and the numerous voluntary actions they must take if they are to preserve the principle of limited government through citizen self-reliance. ~ Dallin H. Oaks

The Democrats' agenda isn't working for women. Their vision has produced big government and limited opportunity. Our vision is for limited government and opportunity for all. Women deserve better than what President Obama has delivered. ~ Reince Priebus

If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare ... they may appoint teachers in every state ... The powers of Congress would subvert the very foundation, the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America. ~ James Madison

Pastors can lead the way in motivating the faithful to wise stewardship of their citizenship responsibilities. Without a healthy culture and civil society, limited government and ordered liberty will be impossible. ~ Edwin Meese

Politicians are interested in the health of the people like predators savor live prey. ~ A.E. Samaan

What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It's not good at much else. ~ Tom Clancy

One thing is certain: those who worked and voted for less government, the very foot soldiers in the conservative revolution, have been deceived. Today, the ideal of limited government has been abandoned by the GOP, and real conservatives find their views no longer matter. ~ Ron Paul

And conservatives know that if you reject these principles of limited government and urge others to reject them you can be my ally, you can be my friend but you cannot call yourself a conservative. ~ Mike Pence

The kind of sociopolitical structure that Protestantism engenders - based on free inquiry, participatory politics, and limited government - tends to favor market economics. ~ Alec Ryrie

It's easier to sell cotton candy than it is to sell broccoli to somebody, but the broccoli is better for you, and the same thing with a limited government. ~ Marco Rubio

Well, I'm a libertarian conservative, so I believe in limited government/maximum individual freedom. ~ John Bolton

Americans face a choice: you can rediscover the animating principles of the American idea
of limited government, a self-reliant citizenry, and the opportunities to exploit your talents to the fullest
or you can join most of the rest of the western world in terminal decline. To rekindle the spark of liberty once it dies is very difficult. ~ Mark Steyn

I now want to examine a second major feature of Western civilization that derives from Christianity. This is what philosopher Charles Taylor calls the 'affirmation of ordinary life.' It is the simple idea that ordinary people are fallible, and yet these fallible people matter. In this view, society should organize itself in order to meet their everyday concerns, which are elevated into a kind of spiritual framework. The nuclear family, the idea of limited government, the Western concept of the rule of law, and our culture's high emphasis on the relief of suffering all derive from this basic Christian understanding of the dignity of fallible human beings. ~ Dinesh D'Souza

In 1964, I tried to convince my grandfather, who was active in the New York City firefighters union, to vote for Barry Goldwater over Lyndon Johnson because at the time I thought his approach to limited government was right on. ~ Joe Lhota

There can be no such thing as "limited government," because there is no way to control an entity that in principle enjoys a monopoly of power ... ~ Joseph Sobran

To continue on the road we Americans have traveled for the past century is ultimately to deliver ourselves completely into the hands of an unlimited government. We can have a free society or a welfare state. We cannot have both. ~ Robert Higgs

No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another; and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him. ~ Thomas Jefferson

There are 100 different doors to come into the conservative movement. You can disagree with 99 of them, as long as you agree on one: more-limited government. ~ Grover Norquist

The American Revolution and its aftermath coincided with two great transformations in the late eighteenth century. In the political sphere, there had been a repudiation of royal rule, fired by a new respect for individual freedom, majority rule, and limited government. If Hamilton made distinguished contributions in this sphere, so did Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. In contrast, when it came to the parallel economic upheavals of the period - the industrial revolution, the expansion of global trade, the growth of banks and stock exchanges - Hamilton was an American prophet without peer. No other founding father straddled both of these revolutions - only Franklin even came close - and therein lay Hamilton's novelty and greatness. He was the clear-eyed apostle of America's economic future, setting forth a vision that many found enthralling, others unsettling, but that would ultimately prevail. He stood squarely on the modern side of a historical divide that seemed to separate him from other founders. Small wonder he aroused such fear and confusion. ~ Ron Chernow

I am a limited-government libertarian. ~ Milton Friedman

Limitation is essential to authority. A government is legitimate only if it is effectively limited. ~ Lord Acton

Nothing in the Constitution of the United States gives the Congress or the Executive Branch the power to attempt the task of regulating climate, as impossible as that would be under any realistic scenarios. No national security emergency exists relative to climate that would warrant increased governmental control of energy production. Today's Americans have an obligation to future Americans to elect leaders who do not believe in an omnipotent government but believe, as did the Founders, in limited government, and in the preservation of liberty and the natural rights of the people. ~ Harrison Schmitt

It's time to take Economics 101 to Washington. We believe in liberty, we believe in limited government, we believe in free enterprise, we believe in family values and the sanctity of human life, and we all believe Washington needs a good dose of Economics 101. ~ Kurt Bills

Someday I hope Americans will not believe that anyone had to spend his or her days fighting for limited government because everyone they know wants maximum freedom and minimum statism. ~ Grover Norquist

I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government. ~ Rand Paul

Each party has a platform
a pre-fixed menu of beliefs making up its worldview. The candidate can choose one of the two platforms, but remember: no substitutions.
For example, do you support healthcare? Then you must also want a ban on assault weapons. Pro limited government? Congratulations, you are also anti-abortion.
Luckily, all human opinion falls neatly into one of the two clearly defined camps. Thus, the two-party system elegantly represents the bi-chromatic rainbow that is American political thought. ~ Jon Stewart

I think people are confused about what the Tea Party is. I mean, they were a broad cross-section of Americans who came together concerned about our debt and our spending. And they're interested in constitutional, limited government. And so they're not one group of people. They're thousands of small groups all over the country. ~ Jim DeMint

Conservatives shouldn't count on the Supreme Court to do our work for us on Obamacare. The Court may rule as it should, and strike down the mandate. But it may not. And even if it does, the future of health care in America - and for that matter, the future of limited government - depends ultimately on the verdict of the American people. ~ Bill Kristol

The product of scientific achievements should be for sale. The scientist should not. ~ A.E. Samaan

You can't have a limited government if the family breaks down. ~ Rick Santorum

I went to my first national convention in 1976, when my family supported [Ronald] Reagan over [Gerald] Ford, so we've always been Republicans, but we've always wanted the Republican Party to be the party of fiscally conservative, limited-government types. And I think, sometimes, we haven't done that as well. ~ Rand Paul

The power to tax is the power to destroy. ~ John Marshall

Americans oppose Obamacare because they understand that it is inconsistent with our liberties and our idea of limited government and that it will destroy the best health care system in the world. ~ David Limbaugh

You can't ignore the reality that faith and family, those two things are integral parts of having limited government, lower taxes, and free societies. ~ Rick Santorum

Every unnecessary law helps fashion the noose we will ultimately be hung by. ~ A.E. Samaan

While an equality of rights under a limited government is possible and an essential condition of individual freedom, a claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers. ~ Friedrich Hayek

Trump argues for his own brand of strong-government conservatism grounded not in, say, Bush's faith in God, but in Donald Trump's faith in himself. He has never shown more than the briefest nod to traditional conservative concerns about limited government, personal liberty or the Constitution. ... If Trump is successful, liberty-oriented conservatism will be replaced by so-called common sense statism. ~ Jonah Goldberg

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves. ~ William J.H. Boetcker

There are significant differences between the American and European version of capitalism. The American traditiionally emphasizes the need for limited government, light regulations, low taxes and maximum labour-market flexibility. Its success has been shown above all in the ability to create new jobs, in which it is consistently more successful than Europe. ~ Margaret Thatcher

As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe that the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press. ~ Mike Pence

I'm really focused on, is making sure that, for the broadest number of Americans possible, limited government and free enterprise, the principles that have truly helped build our country into an exceptional one, is one that is being sold to and appeals to the broadest number of Americans. ~ Marco Rubio

I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that has made us the powerhouse of the world. ~ Mitt Romney

The American people deserve a blueprint for policymaking that is built upon the Constitution of the United States and the principles of fiscal discipline, limited government, accountability, and a strong national defense. ~ Jason Chaffetz

I believe in the Constitution. I believe in separation of powers. I believe in the rule of law. I believe in limited government. And these are principles and policies that apparently neither the national Republican nor the national Democrat Party believes in. I believe great damage is being done to our Constitution, and I see no remedy at all, no likelihood of that changing, if we rely on the two parties to field our candidates for national office. ~ Bob Barr

As a political independent, I would gladly vote for any political party dedicated to limited government and entrepreneurship. ~ Arthur C. Brooks

The New Deal is inconsistent with the principles of limited government and with the constitutional provisions designed to secure that end. ~ Richard Allen Epstein

You know, you don't retreat in the defense of freedom. You don't retreat in the defense of moral government and limited government. You don't retreat because people are going to defend bad things. ~ Russell Pearce

The ultimate check against government tyranny is an informed electorate who will elect people who believe in limited government. I don't want to embrace the idea we want people to take to the streets with guns. I want people to go to the voting booth and check an out of control government by electing conservatives. ~ Lindsey Graham

The Founders knew that a democracy would lead to some kind of tyranny. The term democracy appears in none of our Founding documents. Their vision for us was a Republic and limited government. ~ Walter E. Williams

We believe that human happiness requires freedom and that freedom requires limited government. ~ Charles A. Murray

Concentrated power is not rendered harmless by the good intentions of those who create it. ~ Milton Friedman

Limited government is not a means to liberty, it is an end. That is to say, there are always going to be a group of citizens who cannot meet their basic needs, and there most assuredly will always be politicians willing to promise that they will meet them. The difference between liberty and tyranny by popular support, or correctly termed "democratic despotism, " is little more than the vehicle a free society chooses to use in order to meet those needs. ~ Richard D. Baris

Ultimately it must be accepted by advocates of limited government that the same guns that are promised to protect the population may be used on them. ~ Daniel Alexander Brackins

We Americans have no commission from God to police the world. ~ Benjamin Harrison

The License Raj in India was a time when, to set up an industry, you needed a license. Which made the government an omnipresent and sort of all-pervasive authority. ~ Kumar Mangalam Birla

You are limited, my friend, in what you can and cannot control, as are we all. If you are to become healthy, you must acknowledge the ineluctability of your brother's course. Acknowledge your limitations in directing it, Dominick. And that will free you. That will help to make you well. ~ Wally Lamb

We (the ANC government) have no plans to introduce the wholesale administration of these drugs in the public sector. ARVs are not a cure for Aids. ~ Manto Tshabalala-Msimang

We feel that this stands as a symbol of the insatiable curiosity of all mankind to explore the unknown. ~ Buzz Aldrin

It is not good for a man to be too cognizant of his physical and spiritual mechanisms. Complete knowledge reveals limits to human possibilities, and the less a man is by nature limited in his purposes, the less he can tolerate limits. ~ Stanislaw Lem

Correcting bad habits cannot be done by forbidding or punishment. ~ Robert Baden-Powell

Alex was growing in prominence. I noticed him trending on Twitter from time to time, for telling his now millions of fans that U.S. scientists were covertly creating "man-fish hybrids," that atheists "worship Lucifer," and that the government puts secret chemicals in juice boxes to turn Americans gay: "After you're done drinking your little juices you're ready to put makeup on, wear a short skirt, put together a garden of roses or something." And ~ Jon Ronson

You can't actually hire us. Check out the room you're in. We don't need your money... That cat's lunch costs more than most government salaries... We can't even spend all the money we have. In fact, it should be us offering you money, just to get rid of some of it. Want some money? - Dan ~ C. Alexander London

We are following with great concern the preparations of the crusaders to launch war on the former capital of Muslims ... and to install a puppet government ...
Fight these despots. I remind you that victory comes only from God.
The fighting should be in the name of God only, not in the name of national ideologies nor to seek victory for the ignorant governments that rule all Arab states, including Iraq.
[bin Laden's message: fight the 'crusaders'] ~ Osama Bin Laden

We all have choices that we are empowered to make on a daily basis, and while those choices can be limited by affordability and accessibility, we still have the opportunity to make our best choice. That best choice usually requires more effort and more thought, but, undeniably, the results are worth it. ~ Adam Rodriguez

If the Government gets into business on any large scale, we soon find that the beneficiaries attempt to play a large part in the control. While in theory it is to serve the public, in practice it will be very largely serving private interests. It comes to be regarded as a species of government favor and those who are the most adroit get the larger part of it. ~ Calvin Coolidge

It is ironic-rouse the limpest adjective-that a government as spontaneously tyrannous and callous as ours should, over the years, have come yo care so much about our health as it endlessly tests and retests commercial drugs available in other lands while arresting those who take "hard" drugs on the potential ground that they are bad for the user's health. One is touched by their concern- touched and dubious. After all, these same compassionate guardians of our well-being have sternly, year in and year out, refused to allow us to have what every other First World country simply takes for granted, a national health service. ~ Gore Vidal

We often forget that Iran has a long tradition and history with the United States. Iranians have been coming to the United States as students for decades. American businessmen were in Iran developing the oil fields ... There was an American financial advisor to the Iranian government in the early part of the century. ~ Elaine Sciolino

It used to be that the only ones with access to cutting-edge technology were top government labs, big companies and the ultra-rich. It was simply too expensive for the rest of us to afford. ~ Peter Diamandis

We must sober up and admit that too many of the Republicans and the Democrats have played us, lied to us and stolen from us, while the getaway car was driven by the media. A media that can no longer claim with a straight face the role of journalist. Journalists print the things the powerful don't want printed. What they do is public relations. Those PR firms will not print the truth about the average American who finds himself concerned with the direction of our country today. So we must. We are not violent. We are not racist. We are not anti immigrant. We are not anti-government. And we will not be silent anymore. ~ Glenn Beck

It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.

Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter'd your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?

Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil'd this sacred place, and turn'd the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.

In the name of God, go!

-Oliver Cromwell on the Dissolution of Parliament (April 20, 1653) ~ Oliver Cromwell

To exist in this poem [of creation] is a greater gift than any finite creature can imagine. To be so insignificant and yet still be given a speaking part, to be given scenes that are my own, and my own only, scenes where the audience is limited to the Author Himself (scenes that I often flub), to have been here with my frozen nose, to have been crafted with at least as much care as a snowflake (though I'm harder to melt), and to hear and feel and see and taste and smell the heavy poetry of God, that is enough. ~ N.D. Wilson

Among the weeds choking out growth and good government are the hundreds of boards, commissions, and advisory committees that have sprouted over the years. They devour time, money, and energy far beyond any real contribution they make. ~ Mitch Daniels

Capital punishment, like the rest of the criminal justice system, is a government program, so skepticism is in order. ~ George Will

Relationships are chess for women," he said. "They can see the whole board, plan way ahead. They're the queens, after all. We're the kings, limited to one square in any direction, on defense for the whole fucking game. ~ Laura Lippman

Thou seest therefore that by this reasoning Aristotle doth attribute to God extensive infinity but not absolute intensive infinity withal, whence I would conclude that as his infinite motive power is constrained to motive action in conformity with finite speed, so also the same power of creating the immense and the innumerable is limited by his own will to the finite and numerable. Some theologians have argued almost in the same way, since besides admitting infinity in extension, whereby God conveyeth perpetual motion to the universe, they require also intensive infinity with which he can create and move innumerable worlds, and cause each of them and all at once to move instantaneously; nevertheless God hath thus limited by his will the number of the innumerable multitude of worlds, and also the quality of utterly intensive motion. And as this motion, which proceedeth indeed from infinite power (nothing interfering), is recognized as finite, so also the number of worlds may easily be believed to be determinate. ~ Giordano Bruno

Up till now, we can suppose, nervous systems solved the Now what do I do? problem by a relatively simple balancing act between a strictly limited repertoire of actions - if not the famous four F's (fight, flee, feed, or mate), then a modest elaboration of them. ~ Daniel Dennett

I have sworn upon the altar of god ... ~ Thomas Jefferson

Refugee problems can only be solved in the region (of origin) - maybe with a little help from the UN. Governments must provide something for their countries. They need to deliver. ~ Yoweri Museveni

People ask me all the time what it is about Australia that produces so many big stars. Honestly, I believe it is a combination of things. Our education standards are quite high, but our industry is very limited. Yet we're very aware of the industry - everyone goes to the theater, sees TV shows. ~ Margot Robbie

I don't hate the government. I don't think the Second Amendment is being infringed upon. ~ Henry Rollins

In all great changes of established governments, forms ought to give way to substance ~ James Madison

Somebody has to take governments' place, and business seems to me to be a logical entity to do it. ~ David Rockefeller

Some government expenditure actually makes a profit. Our theatre leads the world. Loads of tourists must be attracted by the fact that you could spend a week in London doing nothing but visit superb museums and galleries, free. ~ Simon Hoggart

I am committed to furthering the self-determination of Indian communities but without terminating the special relationship between the Federal Government and the Indian people. I am strongly opposed to termination. Self-determination means that you can decide the nature of your tribe's relationship with the Federal Government within the framework of the Self-Determination Act, which I signed in January of 1975. ~ Gerald R. Ford

In theory, taxes should be like shopping. What I buy is government services. What I pay are my taxes. ~ P. J. O'Rourke

Modern corporate controlled governments are in the business of covering things up. ~ Steven Magee

Life and all that is in it
is a gift from the infinite mind;
And the only way that life can go wrong
is by the limited finite mind. ~ Eric Foley Saucier

Darwinan evolution is limited to the biological aspect but before that happened the molecules themselves had to evolve to enable this further (biological) evolution. ~ Jean-Marie Lehn

Government as well as religion has furnished its schisms, its persecutions and its devices for fattening idleness on the earnings of the people. ~ Thomas Jefferson

When we look at the astonishing material achievements of the West. we see these things as the result, not of compulsion or government action or the superior wisdom of a few, but of that system of competition and free enterprise, rewarding success and penalising failure, which enables every individual to participate by his private decisions in shaping the future of his society. ~ Enoch Powell