Jonathan Mayhew Quotes

There was a time when the United States government earned the trust of its people. There was a time when most people believed that the United States government was protecting them.

Government loses its claim to legitimacy when it fails to fulfill its obligations.

I believe the relationship you have with your government is not so different to a love relationship.

It is the role of the government to do what the people want to be done.

People have increasingly come to regard the government as a source of rights rather than as a defender of pre-existing individual rights.

… nearly universal is a never-ending effort to balance the rights of individuals with the needs that, in the modern world, it seems only government can meet.

... we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve.

A government capable of controlling the whole, and bringing its force to a point, is one of the prerequisites for national liberty. We combine in society, with an expectation to have our persons and properties defended against unreasonable exactions either at home or abroad.

If the law is upheld only by government officials, then all law is at an end.

I'm a better American than 99% of the guys in the White House.

I'll remind you all, however, that for government, existence is a privilege, not a right.

It matters more how governments behave than how big they are.

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.

For all the huffing and blowing we get about rugged individualism, the American spirit and the American experiment always have had at their heart the notion that the government is all of us and that, therefore, the government may keep things in trust for all of us.

The apology, that is constantly put forth for the injustice of government, viz., that a man must consent to give up some of his rights, in order to have his other rights protected - involves a palpable absurdity, both legally and politically.

The job of the government isn't to go around and try and make people sacrifice, it's to try and make people free. The reason why we have a national defense is to protect our freedoms.

If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost.

The government has a responsibility to protect society, to help maintain society. That's why we have laws... The rule of law creates a set of standards for our behavior.

In 1995 the whole political situation was very complicated. I was the first deputy prime minister, and at the same time I had very low influence in the government.

The central issue of our time - of all times - is the size, power and scope of government.

Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide for human wants. People have the right to expect that these wants will be provided for by this wisdom.

It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

Stand up and pledge with me: A government of the United States is not on the auction block. And America is not for sale!

Our government... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.