103 Size Of Government Quotes
Following is our list of size of government quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about small government.
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Famous Size Of Government Quotes
Before my tenure, people didn't seem to think that citizens had a right to limit the size of their government. — William Weld
That government is best which governs least. — Henry David Thoreau
The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. — Thomas Jefferson
Government is best which governs least — Thomas Paine
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have. — Gerald R. Ford
I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub. — Grover Norquist
Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have. — Davy Crockett
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. — Ronald Reagan
The government is so out of control. It is so bloated and infested with fraud and deceit and corruption and abuse of power. — Ted Nugent
The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity. — Martin Van Buren
A little government involvement is just as dangerous as a lot - because the first leads inevitably to the second. — Harry Browne
I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. — Thomas Jefferson
The era of resisting big government is never over. — Paul Gigot
Republicans want smaller government for the same reason crooks want fewer cops; it's easier to get away with murder. — James Carville
Government is not a solution to our problem government is the problem. — Ronald Reagan
Short Size Of Government Quotes
- Simplify rules, regulations, and laws. Get government out of the business of micromanaging. — Edward O. Thorp
- Individual liberty depends upon keeping government under control. — Ronald Reagan
- The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem. — Milton Friedman
- War is just one more big government program. — Joseph Sobran
- Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. — Ronald Reagan
- That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. — Henry David Thoreau
- That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves. — Thomas Jefferson
Size Of Government Image Quotes
What Is The Purpose Of Government Quotes
The good of the people must be the great purpose of government. By the laws of nature and of reason, the governors are invested with power to that end. And the greatest good of the people is liberty. It is to the state what health is to the individual. — Denis Diderot
If any ask me what a free government is, I answer, that, for any practical purpose, it is what the people think so,and that they, and not I, are the natural, lawful, and competent judges of this matter. — Edmund Burke
Bush is going in the wrong way. And I dare say, that is what the strategy of his administration is, is just to wipe out government's purpose for any social and economic justice at all. And I'm going to take the country in an opposite direction than he's taking it. — Dennis Kucinich
You have to ask yourself a question: "What's the purpose of the private sector - to support government?" And if the answer is, "Yes, it is," then you're a Democrat. — Rush Limbaugh
What is the structure of government that will best guard against the precipitate counsels and factious combinations for unjust purposes, without a sacrifice of the fundamental principle of republicanism? — James Madison
He (George W. Bush) is going in the wrong way. And I dare say, that is what the strategy of his administration is, is just to wipe out government's purpose for any social and economic justice at all. — Dennis Kucinich
Small Government Quotes
The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite. — Thomas Jefferson
It was a bad idea, because I think that any government reorganization has to come in relatively small bites, or else you get indigestion. — Warren Rudman
The American citizen must be made aware that today a relatively small group of people is proclaiming its purposes to be the will of the People. That elitist approach to government must be repudiated. — William E. Simon
It is a matter of common knowledge that the government of South Carolina is under domination of a small ring of cunning, conniving men. — Strom Thurmond
Sometimes I find myself thinking, rather wistfully, about Lao Tzu's famous dictum: 'Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.' All around me I see something very different, let us say - a number of angry dwarfs trying to grill a whale. — William Carlos Williams
A State divided into a small number of rich and a large number of poor will always develop a government manipulated by the rich to protect the amenities represented by their property. — Harold Laski
It is time for conservatives to do what they do best and insist that a wasteful, inefficient government program gets off the books. Small government and the death penalty don't go together. — Christy Clark
Conservatives should question how the death penalty actually works in order to stay true to small government, reduction in wasteful spending, and respect for human life. — Jay Sekulow
But I'm very libertarian in the sense that I believe in small government and, as a general rule, I don't believe in imposing values upon people. — Stephen Harper
[We are] no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and the duress of small groups of dominant men. — Woodrow Wilson
Role Of Government Quotes
The only possible role that I can see for reconciliation would be to make modest changes in the major package to improve affordability, to deal with what share of Medicaid expansion the federal government pays, those kinds of issues, which is the traditional role for reconciliation in health care. — Kent Conrad
While microeconomics has focused on transactions between individuals, and macroeconomics on the role of government in the economy, the reality is that the most important economic decisions to any individual’s well-being are the ones they conduct in their trade-offs with their future self. — Saifedean Ammous
Migration - whether emigration or return - at the micro level is an individual choice, and government both at the Centre and the states have role only to facilitate the decision of the individuals. — Vayalar Ravi
A corporation's primary goal is to make money. Government's primary role is to take a big chunk of that money and give it to others. — Larry Ellison
And I don't think that government has a role in telling people how to live their lives. Maybe a minister does, maybe your belief in God does, maybe there's another set of moral codes, but I don't think government has a role. — Clarence Thomas
The essential role of government is to create the conditions under which people can live fulfilling lives. — Martha C. Nussbaum
I believe one of the main roles of Government is to keep our economy free and fair. — Liz Truss
The Supreme Court and courts in general have been usurping the role of the legislative branch of government. — Todd Akin
I clearly believe a lot more than some of my coalition colleagues - Tories - in redistribution and using the tax system for that purpose. I also believe in the government having an active role in the economy, which is having an industrial strategy. I'm not a believer in laissez-faire. — Vince Cable
To suggest that Quebecers willingly give up the chance to exercise fully their influence within the federal government would be to betray the historical role Quebec has always played in Confederation, and to undermine the legitimacy of their pride and ambitions. — Kim Campbell
Big Government Quotes
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. — Ronald Reagan
People say, 'The government couldn't carry out the September 11th attack, it's too big, they'd get caught!' They DID get caught! They're just counting on you to be dumb and to go along with it. — Alex Jones
History will judge societies and governments - and their institutions - not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless. — Cesar Chavez
Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry. — Unknown Author
The FBI has always supported big business and big government. — Leonard Peltier
Our corporate executives speculate with their shareholders’ assets because they get big personal rewards when they win—and even if they lose, they are often bailed out with public funds by obedient politicians. We privatize profit and socialize risk. — Edward O. Thorp
Big-government economics breeds crony capitalism. It's corrupt, anything but neutral, and a barrier to broad participation in prosperity. — Paul Ryan
Shouldn't someone tag Mr. Kennedy's bold new imaginative program with its proper age? Under the tousled boyish haircut is still old Karl Marx - first launched a century ago. There is nothing new in the idea of a Government being Big Brother. — Ronald Reagan
The big missing part of the jig-saw is to get the assembly back up and running here in Northern Ireland, to get shared government back in business, that is my objective, and we await the IRA statement to see if this will trigger a new dawn. — Peter Hain
Unlimited enmity of the Albanian people against Serbia is the foremost real result of the Albanian policies of the Serbian government. The second and more dangerous result is the strengthening of two big powers in Albania, which have the greatest interests in the Balkans. — Dimitrije Tucovic
People Writing About Size Of Government
More Size Of Government Quotes
The Nicaragua Grand Canal project is funded by a Hong Kong businessman who is adamant that the Chinese government not be involved in the project. Given the participation of China’s government in all aspects of life, this is unusual. The $50-billion cost estimate for the project, which is due for completion in the early 2020s, is four times the size of the entire Nicaraguan economy. Exactly who is financially backing the project is unclear, but Nicaragua’s president signed on the plan with alacrity and scarcely a glance at the 30,000 people who may be required to move from their lands. The canal will split the country in two and six municipalities will find themselves divided. There will be only one bridge across the canal along its entire length. The president argues the project will bring tens of thousands of jobs and much-needed investment and revenue to the second-poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. — Tim Marshall
As in the case of California, the wolf is at the door of America and the present administration acts as if it's a pussycat. America cannot maintain the present entitlement programs and support a government this size and keep on living on a credit card. — Charlie Daniels
You know, in a workplace, when you shrink the size of a workforce, there is pain there. But there is no question: we have a government that we can no longer afford.That is the cold, hard fact. So we have to make this more efficient. We have to sunset programs that no longer work. We have to eliminate waste and fraud. We must do this. — Meg Whitman
No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. — Ronald Reagan
Interest-rate swaps are a tool used by big cities, major corporations and sovereign governments to manage their debt, and the scale of their use is almost unimaginably massive. It's about a $379 trillion market, meaning that any manipulation would affect a pile of assets about 100 times the size of the United States federal budget. — Matt Taibbi
Chinese are already more on board than we are. China is the only country that actually discussed in formal government documents how important it is to control the size of your populations if you’re going to limit emissions. — Paul R. Ehrlich
If you would govern a state of a thousand chariots (a small-to-middle-size state), you must pay strict attention to business, be true to your word, be economical in expenditure and love the people. — Confucius
Equality is of two kinds, numerical and proportional; by the first I mean sameness of equality in number or size; by the second, equality of ratios. — Aristotle
The media has brainwashed the electorate to expect the government to do something. The best economic policy of any government is to do nothing but reduce the size of the government, reduce the size of the laws, and reduce the size of regulations. — Marc Faber
I lowered taxes in New York. I reduced the size of government in New York. I took a $2.4 billion deficit and turned it into a $3.2 billion surplus. And I reduced taxes over 23 times or 23 times. — Rudy Giuliani
If politicians stopped meddling with things they don't understand, there would be a more drastic reduction in the size of government than anyone in either party advocates. — Thomas Sowell
Our whole way of life today is dedicated to the removal of risk. Cradle to grave we are supported, insulated, and isolated from the risks of life - and if we fail, our government stands ready with Bandaids of every size. — Shirley Temple Black
Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. — Sarah Palin
Someone has to stay on the line and say, no, we can do this by cutting spending and reducing the size of government. That's what I was committed to doing. — Chris Christie
The goal is to reduce the size and scope of government spending, not to focus on the deficit. The deficit is the symptom of the disease. — Grover Norquist
But no one has yet succeeded in reducing the size or scope of the federal government — James Q. Wilson
The Planetary Regime might be given responsibility for determining the optimum population for the world and for each region and for arbitrating various countries’ shares within their regional limits. Control of population size might remain the responsibility of each government, but the Regime would have some power to enforce the agreed limits. — John Holdren
The financial crisis in our country is not a passing storm. Given the size of the problems, our national effort will not be completed in 2012. It will take many years and will require the efforts and insistence of several governments. — Lucas Papademos
Economic and social misery increases in direct proportion to the size and power of the central government of a nation or state. — Kirkpatrick Sale
It's no coincidence that trust in government is at an all-time low now that the size of government is at an all-time high. — Paul Ryan
The size of the federal budget is not an appropriate barometer of social conscience or charitable concern. — Ronald Reagan
In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government. — Paul Ryan
The president-elect has set a very aggressive agenda, and I think that repealing and replacing Obamacare with the kind of health care reform that'll lower the cost of health insurance without growing the size of government will be job one. — Mike Pence
Yes, deficits are a problem. I've been saying so for more than a quarter of a century now. But the problem is not the size of the deficit, it's the size of government's claim on our economy. — Ronald Reagan
When the balance of power is right and the government is right sized, California still can be California. It can be, in my opinion, as crazy as it wants to be. And Texas, in other's opinion, can be as crazy as it wants to be. But we're still brothers in the union. — Glenn Beck
Learn to shrink yourself to the size of the company you are in. Take their tone, whatever it may be, and excell in it if you can;but never pretend to give the tone. A free conversation will no more bear a dictator than a free government will. — Lord Chesterfield
I'm coming to Washington, D.C., to do the people's work. And the people's work has to do with reducing spending and cutting budgets and, and trying to get a grip on the size of government. — Ken Buck
The fact is, if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill; to end the bailouts; cut spending; and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all these things it is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things. — Mitch McConnell
Voters did say 'repeal health care,' they did say 'reduce the size of government.' But not a single one of them from the tea party or anywhere said 'give tax breaks to the wealthiest.' — Charles Schumer
Our nation is too different, too diverse to say that what works in Massachusetts is somehow going to be grabbed by the federal government, usurping the power of states and imposing a one-size-fits-all plan on the nation. That will not work. — Mitt Romney
America's greatness is not found in the size of its government. America's greatness resides in the hearts and the minds of the people. — Rick Perry
We want to reduce the size of government in half as a percentage of GNP over the next 25 years. We want to reduce the number of people depending on government so there is more autonomy and more free citizens. — Grover Norquist
We are shrinking the size of the federal government as a percent of our economy from over 21 percent of the economy to 19 percent of the economy. At the same time, we're growing the private economy. — Franklin Raines
As president, Reagan worked very well with Democrats to do big things. It is true that he worked to reduce the size of government and cut federal taxes and he eliminated many regulations, but he also raised taxes when necessary. — Arnold Schwarzenegger
Fiscal conservatism is just an easy way to express something that is a bit more difficult, which is that the size and scope of government, and really the size and scope of politics in our lives, has grown uncomfortable, unwieldy, intrusive and inefficient. — P. J. O'Rourke
If you're a limited government conservative, I feel your pain. Your man Mr. Bush has exploded the size of government, ballooned the deficit and increased government power so dramatically that he claims the right to eavesdrop on your conversations without a warrant. — Paul Begala
Somebody once said that the ideal size of a country for democracy to work is around 10 million people - and that kind of makes sense if you think of it in very crude terms. In a smaller country, I guess it's easier to maintain some kind of common ground.I do think the Swedish system of government works really well. Obviously, everything doesn't work perfectly, but I like the principle of it. — Johan Renck
I am frightened by today's world, terrified by it. I think that comes out in the books. I'm afraid of big things. Some of these schools have three thousand kids, and even the size of the schools frightens me. Big government frightens me; so does big defense. — Robert Cormier
If you want to right-size executive power relative to the other branches of government, the best way to do that is to have a healthy Congress in which the two parties are debating, disagreeing, but also occasionally working together to pass legislation. — Barack Obama
I have no interest in increasing the size of government. I just want to make sure we have got a smart government that is regulating, for example, the financial institutions smartly, so I don't have to engage in any kind of bank bailouts. — Barack Obama
We've gotta cut this country down to size and people here need to find out what it's like what we've done to people around the world, and that's not who we are. And [Donald] Trump is coming along saying those days are over; we are the solution, we are going, our system of government, we are gonna promote it, we are gonna promote our way of life around the world as the best in the world. — Rush Limbaugh
[Tomas] Jefferson is more out of fashion, both because of his views on race, where he's properly questioned, that part of his legacy, but also because the libertarian critique of bigness in business and government, the idea that size is a danger is something that's shared on the right when it comes to government and on the left when it comes to corporations, but not both. — Jeffrey Rosen
You can have very big local government. By big, I mean very engaged government. Do you measure it in terms of the number of laws? Number of employees? You could make arguments for either one. I tend to think the axis of the size of government is the wrong concern. But I do think that situating power more locally is a legitimate approach. — Zephyr Teachout
The job of conservatives is to keep the Republican Party driving on the right-hand side of the road. There are many ways we do this. We argue, we publish, we lobby, we campaign for conservative candidates. Another thing we do is, when the GOP goes off the rails on really key issues - size of government, the National Question, Wilsonian adventures - we stay home on election day. — John Derbyshire
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