Isaac Jan Alexander Gogel Quotes
I have always found that men are happiest where governments interfere least with their actions; effectively, I believe that government should occupy itself only with what the general interest requires and what is necessary for the repression of crime and the safety of morals.
This statement by a Dutch politician at the beginning of the 19th century would have been a perfect statement of the conservative and cultural Republicans of the end of the 20th century ad beginning of the 21st. It includes the government overseeing of the morals of the society which most cries for minimal government do not have as an exception as herein. This quotation and {639886} together illustrate why it is so difficult to classify historical politicians in the left-right categories of a future time. Here Gogel seems a strong conservative arguing for minimal government , while in {639886} he sounds like a 21st century extreme liberal.
Isaac Jan Alexander Gogel, 1765-1821, Dutch Politician, Patriot & Revolutionist, Minister of Finance, Agent for Foreign Affairs, Letter to French General Marmont, 1804
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
whether or not to buy luxuries This quotation and {639885} together illustrate why it is so difficult to classify historical politicians in the left-right categories of a future time. Here Gogel seems a strong liberal arguing for progressive taxation and luxury taxes, and tax relief for the poop, while in {639885} he sounds like a 21st century extreme conservative.
- Born: December 10, 1765
- Died: June 13, 1821
- Nationality:
- Profession:
Isaac Jan Alexander Gogel was the first minister of finance of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of Holland. He married Catharina van Hasselt in 1800, and had three children.
