George W. Bush Quotes

We can't do without government, but we do need it to be more effective.

I'm a Democrat, and there are an important group of things only the government can do. But let us be clear that for most of the world, what they most need is less government.

I believe that smaller government is better government. But I also believe that in the areas where government does play a legitimate role, we should demand that it is done better.

We need a Federal government that does what the government needs to do and stops doing what the government ought not to be doing.

Administration is the essence of government, and its quality is a prime condition of civic comfort.

The question today is not whether the government is too small or too small, but whether or not it works

Government exists to create and preserve conditions in which people can translate their ideas into practical reality. In the best of times, much is lost in translation. But we try.

"Big" government? Who wants that? I just want effective government. That means America's government needs to be big in some places, small in others and non-existent in others.

In our complex world, there cannot be fruitful initiative without government, but unfortunately there can be government without initiative.

We should distinguish carefully skepticism about Big Government from contempt for all government.

While we may argue about the size of government, the Republican Party has not been a party that says, 'I want to destroy government.'

Obama is trying to paint us as a caricature, as if we're some bizarre individualists who are hardcore libertarians. It's a false dichotomy and intellectually lazy. Of course we believe in government. We think government should do what it does really well, but that it has limits.

Good government only happens when the people working in it do their jobs, and do them well.

It is perfectly true that that government is best which governs least. It is equally true that that government is best which provides most.

It's businesses versus big government. We don't need big government. We need a more efficient, lean government, and that's exactly the kind of government we intend to deliver.

What we have to do is strike a balance between the idea that government shall do everything and the idea that government shall do nothing.

The question of our time is rapidly becoming can government get things done?

I do think there are some irreducible inefficiencies in government. But we still need to have government; we still need to make government effective if we can.

Our battle over the size of the state overlooks a problem that is just as important and that may be easier to muster the collective will to resolve: how effective government is, regardless of its scale.

A good government implies two things: first, fidelity to the object of government, which is the happiness of the people; secondly, a knowledge of the means by which that object can be best attained.

If you look at government policy generally, what government tries to do in all instances is to make sure that we take care of all elements that might relate to a particular issue.

We do not believe that if you cut back what government does you diminish its authority. On the contrary, a government that did less, and therefore did better, would strengthen its authority.

In our current frame of mind, or paradigm, or whatever you want to call it, we like to think that marshalling government policy is the way to get things done.

What is the purpose of the government? When you examine most political debates, you usually find that question at the bedrock. What makes a government good? What makes one effective? What is government supposed to do, and what shouldn’t it do? The reason we disagree so much about politics is often because we hold different theories about what the purpose of government is.

Government should steer, not row.