Jacob Weisberg Quotes

The history of government is the history of two conflicting principles: one is the supreme importance of the State; the other is the supreme importance of the individual.

No, our greatness does not come from our government.

They're lots of good Americans here in New York who have common sense and who believe in free markets and free people and limited government under our Constitution. Those are the principles I've always stood for. I know they're right, and that's what I'm going to stand for.

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.

We should reject big government and look inside ourselves for all the things that built this country into what it was.

The excitement right now is coming from the Liberty movement. And the Republicans want a piece of it.

In the 1880s, people all over the world looked to America for inspiration. Its very existence was proof that it was possible to have a relatively free and peaceful country. No income tax, no foreign wars, no welfare state, no intrusions on civil liberties.

People are probably going to realize they can live with a lot less government than what they thought they needed.

I'm a libertarian. It's a terrible word.

As Americans, we don't see the role of government as guaranteeing outcomes, but allowing free men and women to flourish based on their own vision, their hard work and their personal responsibility.

You came out of your mother’s belly without government. You have lived so far without the help of government …. How many people in this world live without government, yet do well enough, and are well looked upon?

And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about.

The Republican world view is, if you are down on your luck, you are out of luck.

And since our country's founding, we've tried to keep government's heavy hand out of our personal lives, while ensuring that we do the most important thing, which is to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

My quarrel is not with the legitimate role of government but with the unlimited role of government.

The era of resisting big government is never over.

Here I encounter the most popular fallacy of our times. It is not considered sufficient that the law should guarantee to every citizen the free and inoffensive use of his faculties for physical, intellectual and moral self-improvement. Instead, it is demanded that the law should directly extend welfare, education, and morality throughout the nation. This is the seductive lure of socialism. And I repeat: these two uses of the law are in direct contradiction to each other.

I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.

The best view of big government is in the rearview mirror as we leave it behind.

The people themselves, not their government, should be trusted with spending their own money and making their own decisions.

A welfare state is frightened of every poor person who tries to get in and every rich person who tries to get out.

I believe strongly that most people in this country U.S. don't want a totalitarian state...And when conservatives say, "Get the government out of my backyard," the reality is, you can't say that and put somebody in the White House who's gonna be in your business.

At heart, American conservatives like myself are believers in the Constitution. We believe that the principles embodied in the Constitution are enduring, and that to whatever extent we deviate from them we put our liberties at risk. Our views are consistent because we believe in absolute truths and the essential soundness, even righteousness, of the Founder's vision of government.

I believe in making government as Ronald Reagan said. Not the distributor of gifts and privilege but once again the protector of our liberties.

We are now forming a republican government. Real liberty is never found in despotism or the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments.