Self-government Quotes - Page 2

• When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government-that is despotism.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Men, Self, White Man

  Address on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, delivered 16 October 1854, Peoria, Illinois

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• Internal self-government under a local constitution was authorized by Congress and approved by the residents in 1952, but federal law is supreme in Puerto Rico and residents do not have voting representation in the Congress.

  Dick Thornburgh

  Government, Self, Law

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• In historical and constitutional terms, the recent political status vote in Puerto Rico was a necessary but obviously not decisive step on the road of self-determination leading to full self-government.

  Dick Thornburgh

  Determination, Government, Self

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• I now proceed to demonstrate that the Mexicans are wholly incapable of self-government, and that our liberties, our fortunes and our lives are insecure so long as we are connected with them.

  William H. Wharton

  Insecure, Government, Self

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• Measures of self-government and a school council, especially for such young children, were a great innovation.

  Dora Russell

  Children, School, Self

  Dora Russell (1975). “The Tamarisk Tree: My quest for liberty and love”

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• Man [is] a rational animal, endowed by nature with rights and with an innate sense of justice.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Philosophy, Animal, Men

  Thomas Jefferson (1829). “Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies from the papers of T. Jefferson”

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• I think that it's always appropriate for Americans and for American foreign policy to make clear why we feel that self-government is most compatible with peace, the well-being of people, and human dignity

  Jeane Kirkpatrick

  Thinking, Government, Self

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• We have pledged ourselves, and of this the United Nations of the world are witness, to give the fullest opportunity for attainment of self-government by India as soon as hostilities are over. I repeat that that is beyond doubt.

  Stafford Cripps

  Opportunity, Government, Self

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• It is not yet too late for the Indian people to decide on rapid, ordered progress. I can assure them that the British people are as determined upon self-government for India as they are themselves.

  Stafford Cripps

  Government, Self, People

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• May [our Declaration of Independence] be to the world, what I believe it will be (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all), the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government... All eyes are opened, or opening, to the rights of man.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Believe, Eye, Ignorance

  Thomas Jefferson (1943). “Thomas Jefferson: selections from his writings edited, with an introduction”

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• A true libertarian supports free enterprise, opposes big business; supports local self-government, opposes the nation-state; supports the National Rifle Association, opposes the Pentagon.

  Edward Abbey

  Business, Government, Self

  Edward Abbey (2015). “A Voice Crying in the Wilderness”, p.21, RosettaBooks

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• It should be remembered, as an axiom of eternal truth in politics, that whatever power in any government is independent, is absolute also.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Independent, Government, Should

  Thomas Jefferson, Joyce Appleby, Terence Ball (1999). “Jefferson: Political Writings”, p.379, Cambridge University Press

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• The equal rights of man and the happiness of every individual are now acknowledged to be the only legitimate objects of government.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Rights, Individual

  Thomas Jefferson (2004). “Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness”, p.69, Modern Library

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• There are men so incorrigibly lazy that no inducement that you can offer will tempt them to work; so eaten up by vice that virtue is abhorrent to them, and so inveterably dishonest that theft is to them a master passion.

  William Booth

  Passion, Men, Lazy

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• A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

  James Madison

  Government, People, Doubt

  James Madison, Ralph Ketcham “Selected Writings of James Madison”, Hackett Publishing

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• To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always possess arms.

  Richard Henry Lee

  Gun, Strong Arms, People

  Richard Henry Lee (1978). “Letters from the Federal farmer to the Republican”, Univ of Alabama Pr

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• The master not only governs the slave without his consent, but he governs him by a set of rules altogether different from those which he prescribes for himself. Allow ALL the governed an
  equal voice in the government, and that, and that only, is self-government.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Government, Self, Voice

  Address on the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, delivered 16 October 1854, Peoria, Illinois

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• We prefer self-government with danger to servitude in tranquility.

  Kwame Nkrumah

  Government, Self, Quiet

  C. E. Donkoh, Kwame Nkrumah (1978). “Mother Africa mourns Kwame Nkrumah, the Emancipator”

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• I am a political animal, because for God's sakes I think "We The People" is a job. I think experienced self government demands on all levels - intellectual, moral, historical, and spiritual level. We are supposed to be engaged and give directions to our elected employees.

  Ted Nugent

  Spiritual, Jobs, Animal

  "More Than 10 Questions with Ted Nugent. The Man, His Views, His Music & The New Album ShutUp & Jam". Interview with Mark Capuano, music.allaccess.com. July 23, 2014.

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• Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

  Cory Doctorow

  Happiness, Men, Power

  Cory Doctorow (2010). “Little Brother”, p.235, Tor Teen

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• What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?

  James Madison

  Reflection, Government, Human Nature

  1788 The Federalist, Jan.

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• We exist, and are quoted, as standing proofs that a government, so modeled as to rest continually on the will of the whole society, is a practicable government.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Government, Politics, Proof

  Thomas Jefferson (2004). “Light and Liberty: Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness”, p.71, Modern Library

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• My most earnest wish is to see the republican element of popular control pushed to the maximum of its practicable exercise. I shall then believe that our government may be pure and perpetual.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Believe, Exercise, Government

  Thomas Jefferson, Henry Augustine Washington (1854). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence, cont”, p.32

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• There can be no self-government without self-discipline. There can be no self-government without self-control. There can be no liberty unless it is grounded in moral discipline and the ability to do what is right.

  Alan Keyes

  Government, Self, Discipline

  Alan Keyes' Speech at the California Republican Party Convention in Sacramento, California, www.keyesarchives.com. February 27, 1999.

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• There is "no happiness without liberty, no liberty without self-government, no self-government without constitutionalism, no constitutionalism without morality--and none of these great goods without stability and order.

  Clinton Rossiter

  Government, Self, Order

  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, Clinton Rossiter (1961). “The federalist papers”, Signet

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