121 General Welfare Quotes

Following is our list of general welfare quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about founding fathers.

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Famous General Welfare Quotes

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants. — Albert Camus

Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. — Ronald Reagan

The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to give all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life. — Frances Perkins

Child welfare ought really to cover all sorts of topics, such as better water and sanitation and good roads, and clean streets and public parks and playgrounds. — Marjory Stoneman Douglas

The good or healthy society would then be defined as one that permitted people's highest purposes to emerge by satisfying all their basic needs. — Abraham Maslow

The pursuit of individual happiness within those limits prescribed by social conditions, is the first requisite to the attainment of the greatest general happiness. — Herbert Spencer

I thought the function of the government was to promote the general welfare, not to provide it. — Ronald Reagan

When...we, as individuals, obey laws that direct us to behave for the welfare of the community as a whole, we are indirectly helping to promote the pursuit of happiness by our fellow human beings. — Aristotle

The safety and happiness of society are the objects at which all political institutions aim, and to which all such institutions must be sacrificed. — James Madison

Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained. — Helen Keller

Legislation can neither be wise nor just which seeks the welfare of a single interest at the expense and to the injury of many and varied interests. — Andrew Johnson

The more we take the welfare of others to heart and work for their benefit, the more benefit we derive for ourselves. This is a fact that we can see. — Dalai Lama

Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People. - Benjamin Disraeli

Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People. — Benjamin Disraeli

The happiness of a people, and the good order and preservation of civil government, essentially depend on piety, religion, and morality. — Fisher Ames

Where conflicting interests must be reconciled, the question shall always be answered from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run. — Gifford Pinchot

Short General Welfare Quotes

  • The welfare state has always been judged by its good intentions, rather than its bad results. — Thomas Sowell
  • It is the essence of responsibility to put the public good ahead of personal gain — Robert Kennedy
  • A government is just only when the whole people share equally in its protection and advantages. — Elizabeth Cady Stanton
  • Individual Ambition Serves the Common Good. — Adam Smith
  • To work for the common good is the greatest creed. — Albert Schweitzer
  • The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites. — Thomas Sowell
General welfare quote People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

Promote The General Welfare Quotes

If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one. — James Madison

An individual, in promoting his own interest, may injure the public interest; a nation, in promoting the general welfare, may check the interest of a part of its members. — Friedrich List

I wish the government would read the Constitution. I think that would probably help quite a bit. And maybe they did read it and maybe they got confused when they read the preamble which says one of the duties is to promote the general welfare. — Benjamin Carson

General welfare quote People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

For me, liberals are people who seek to use government to promote the general welfare. — Douglas Massey

To establish justice and to promote the general welfare, America does not need the abortion license. — Robert Casey

Founding Fathers Quotes

If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking. — Benjamin Franklin

The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government. - Edward Abbey

The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government. — Edward Abbey

Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances. — Benjamin Franklin

General welfare quote People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.
People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.

When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil. — Thomas Jefferson

Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry. — Unknown Author

Our heavenly Father understands our disappointment, suffering, pain, fear, and doubt. He is always there to encourage our hearts and help us understand that He's sufficient for all of our needs. When I accepted this as an absolute truth in my life, I found that my worrying stopped. — Charles Stanley

General welfare quote As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vu
As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome.

Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost. — Thomas Jefferson

A Brother may not be a Friend, but a Friend will always be a Brother. — Benjamin Franklin

I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. — Thomas Jefferson

Without God there could be no American form of government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first, the most basic, expression of Americanism. Thus, the founding fathers of America saw it, and thus with God's help, it will continue to be. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

Human Welfare Quotes

The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man. — Charles Darwin

Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. — Thomas Jefferson

Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul. - Pythagoras

Animals share with us the privilege of having a soul. — Pythagoras

General welfare quote We should measure welfare's success, by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.
We should measure welfare's success, by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.

My religion is truth, love and service to God and humanity. Every religion that has come into the world has brought the message of love and brotherhood. Those who are indifferent to the welfare of their fellowmen, whose hearts are empty of love, they do not know the meaning of religion. — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

As custodians of the planet it is our responsibility to deal with all species with kindness, love, and compassion. That these animals suffer through human cruelty is beyond understanding. Please help to stop this madness. — Richard Gere

A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. - William Blake

A robin redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage. — William Blake

The religion of tomorrow will be less concerned with the dogmas of theology and more concerned with the social welfare of humanity. — Tommy Douglas

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being. — Abraham Lincoln

One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them. — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion. — John Amos Comenius

Public Welfare Quotes

It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare. — Edmund Burke

The police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence. — Robert Peel

The total impact of the Tory/Liberal tax, welfare and public spending changes has hit the poorest 10% in society disproportionately hard - and women have been affected even more badly than men. — Nicola Sturgeon

The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy. — Montesquieu

What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it... which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'. — Robert A. Heinlein

As long as there are human rights to be defended; as long as there are great interests to be guarded; as long as the welfare of nations is a matter for discussion, so long will public speaking have its place. — William Jennings Bryan

Malefactors of great wealth have arrogantly ignored the public welfare. — Theodore Roosevelt

Tariffs, government contracts, naval and military spending, nationalized industries, tax policy, social welfare, the legal privileging of labor unions were among the means at the disposal of the governing class to exploit the public at large for the benefits of its various clienteles. — Ralph Raico

A tax can never be favorable to the public welfare, except by the good use that is made of its proceeds. — Jean-Baptiste Say

My political curiosity, exclusive of my anxious solicitude for the public welfare, leads me to ask who authorized them (the framers of the Constitution) to speak the language of 'We, the People,' instead of 'We, the States'? — Patrick Henry

Welfare Quotes

Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts which simply do not make evolutionary sense. — Richard Dawkins

Girls should be brought up to be comrades and helpers, not to be dolls. They should take a real and not a visionary share in the welfare of the nation. — Robert Baden-Powell

Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it. — Francis of Assisi

Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that very liberty. Our Constitution speaks of the "general welfare of the people." Under that phrase all sorts of excesses can be employed by lusting tyrants to make us bondsmen. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Most people have forgotten how to live with living creatures, with living systems and that, in turn, is the reason why man, whenever he comes into contact with nature, threatens to kill the natural system in which and from which he live. — Konrad Lorenz

A socialist is somebody who doesn't have anything, and is ready to divide it up equally among everybody. — George Bernard Shaw

The more I see of men, the better I like my dog. — Frederick the Great

We cannot have peace among men whose hearts find delight in killing any living creature. — Rachel Carson

Satan's greatest success is in making people think they have plenty of time before they die to consider their eternal welfare. — John Owen

If a man aspires towards a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals. — Albert Einstein

Social Welfare Quotes

The Social Security Act offers to all our citizens a workable and working method of meeting urgent present needs and of forestalling future need. It utilizes the familiar machinery of our Federal-State government to promote the common welfare and the economic stability of the Nation. — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Extremism can flourish only in an environment where basic governmental social responsibility for the welfare of the people is neglected. Political dictatorship and social hopelessness create the desperation that fuels religious extremism. — Benazir Bhutto

We’ll get spades in the ground to make sure people are not facing unaffordable energy bills and we will also make sure that we are building hospitals, schools, roads and broadband. — Liz Truss

I don’t object to some people being richer… I object to gain of wealth through political connections rather than earning it by merit. — Edward O. Thorp

We should never forget that competitive sustainability has always been at the heart of our social market economy. — Ursula von der Leyen

One of the strengths of our nation has always been a strong middle class who could afford their own homes and send their children to school. — James Sinegal

Too many Americans now believe that the checks they receive every month from the unemployment office - like the checks they get from the welfare office, from Medicare, from Social Security - are inalienable rights. They are not. — Ben Shapiro

Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems - the kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others. — Star Parker

Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated. — Thomas Jefferson

Illegitimacy is the single most important social problem of our time - more important than crime, drugs, poverty, illiteracy, welfare or homelessness because it drives everything else. — Charles A. Murray

People Writing About General Welfare

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Read quotes by Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan
quotes on socialism, freedom and government

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Read quotes by Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell
quotes on truth, intellectuals and liberals

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Read quotes by Albert Camus

Albert Camus
quotes on love, life and absurdity

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Read quotes by Frances Perkins

Frances Perkins

15 546
Read quotes by Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Marjory Stoneman Douglas
quotes on education, leadership and success

31 355
Read quotes by Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow
quotes on self actualization, motivation and hierarchy needs

155 5999

More General Welfare Quotes

The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. — James Madison

With respect to the words "general welfare," I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators. — James Madison

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. — Gouverneur Morris

In this relation, then, the proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several states, a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects. — James Madison

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. — Joseph Story

If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper...When people have learned this lesson, everyone will seek his individual welfare in the general welfare. Then jealousies between man and man, city and city, province and province, nation and nation, will no longer trouble the world. — Fr

I imagine an America that can actually change. That we become a nation that prospers again but without pillaging the resources of nations that make their people hate us. That we become a nation that, as the constitution says in its preamble, its very first paragraph, 'promotes the general welfare' of its people. — Richard Schiff

But did the Founding Fathers ever intend for the federal government to involve itself in education, health care or retirement benefits? The answer, quite clearly, is no. The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8 - which contains the general welfare clause - seeks to restrain federal government, not expand it. — Larry Elder

Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored — Alice Walker

Patriotism should be sought for and will be found in right living. No man can be a good Latter-day Saint and not be true to the best interests and general welfare of his country. — Joseph Smith, Jr.

The welfare of the weakest and the welfare of the most powerful are inseparably bound together. ... The general welfare cannot be provided for in any one act, but it is well to remember that the benefit of one is the benefit of all, and the neglect of one is the neglect of all. — Calvin Coolidge

This dullness of vision regarding the importance of the general welfare to the individual is the measure of the failure of our schools and churches to teach the spiritual significance of genuine democracy. — Henry A. Wallace

But the general welfare must restrict and regulate the exertions of the individuals, as the individuals must derive a supply of their strength from social power. — Friedrich List

The balance of private good and general welfare is at the bottom of civilized morals; but the morals of the Heroic Age are founded on individuality, and on nothing else. — Lascelles Abercrombie

We are attempting, by this Constitution, to abolish factions, and to unite all parties for the general welfare. — Alexander Hamilton

Of all forms of government and society, those of free men and women are in many respects the most brittle. They give the fullest freedom for activities of private persons and groups who often identify their own interests, essentially selfish, with the general welfare. — Dorothy Thompson

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

Even if, as is generally the case, everything that the ad says about the product is scrupulously honest, or at any rate scrupulously avoids outright dishonesty, the implication of the direct address of most commercials - that the announcer speaks with the viewer's welfare at heart - is fraudulent. — Michael Schudson

There is no other planning for freedom and general welfare than to let the market system work. — Ludwig von Mises

It is necessary for the welfare of society that genius should be privileged to utter sedition, to blaspheme, to outrage good taste, to corrupt the youthful mind, and generally to scandalize one's uncles. — George Bernard Shaw

Patriotism is the intelligent appreciation that one's own welfare is inseparably connected with the general welfare and that to prosper personally one must intelligently do his utmost to maintain the general prosperity. — Julius Sterling Morton

No right of preference exists in favor of person, property, or business. Personal claims and ambitions must yield in favor of whatever best serves the general welfare. — Charles Lindbergh

For years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors and vice versa. The difference did not exist. Our company is too big. It goes with the welfare of the country. — Charles Erwin Wilson

The Constitution is not a panacea for every blot upon the public welfare. Nor should this Court, ordained as a judicial body, be thought of as a general haven for reform movements. — John Marshall Harlan

If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper. When people have learned this lesson, everyone will seek his individual welfare in the general welfare. Then jealousies between man and man, city and city, province and province, nation and nation, will no longer trouble the world. — Frederic Bastiat

The natural tendency of the state is inflation. This statement will shock those accustomed to viewing the state as a committee of the whole nation ardently dispensing the general welfare, but I think it nonetheless true. — Murray Rothbard

For what purpose could the enumeration of particular powers be inserted, if these and all others were meant to be included in the preceding general power? — James Madison

An ideal is an unselfish aspiration. Its purpose is the general welfare not only of this but of future generations. It is a thing of the spirit. It is a generous and humane desire that all men may share equally in a common good. Our ideals are the cement, which binds human society. — Herbert Hoover

The State insists that, by thus quarantining the general reading public against books not too rugged for grown men and women in order to shield juvenile innocence, it is exercising its power to promote the general welfare. Surely this is to burn the house to roast the pig...The incidence of this enactment is to reduce the adult population of Michigan to reading only what is fit for children. — Felix Frankfurter

A nation's wealth is too serious a matter to be left to the wealthy. The riches of a nation belong to all, to be shared among all for the general welfare. — Robert Payne

General welfare is a general condition - maybe sound currency is general welfare, maybe markets, maybe judicial system, maybe a national defense, but this is specific welfare. This justifies the whole welfare state - the military industrial complex, the welfare to foreigners, the welfare state that imprisons our people and impoverishes our people and gives us our recession. — Ron Paul

Every man holds his property subject to the general right of the community to regulate its use to whatever degree the public welfare may require it. — Theodore Roosevelt

Thomas Jefferson explained, Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated. .. If Congress can determine what constitutes the general welfare and can appropriate money for its advancement, where is the limitation to carrying into execution whatever can be effected by money?. — Bill Drayton

No-one can compel me to be happy in accordance with his conception of the welfare of others, for each may seek his happiness in whatever way he sees fit, so long as he does not infringe upon the freedom of others to pursue a similar end which can be reconciled with the freedom of everyone else within a workable general law ? i.e. he must accord to others the same right as he enjoys himself. — Immanuel Kant

Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution, of course, lays out the delegated, enumerated, and therefore limited powers of Congress. Only through a deliberate misreading of the general welfare and commerce clauses of the Constitution has the federal government been allowed to overreach its authority and extend its tendrils into every corner of civil society. — Ed Crane

To lay taxes to provide for the general welfare of the United States, that is to say, 'to lay taxes for the purpose of providing for the general welfare.' For the laying of taxes is the power, and the general welfare the purpose for which the power is to be exercised. They are not to lay taxes ad libitum for any purpose they please; but only to pay the debts or provide for the welfare of the Union. — Thomas Jefferson

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