John Baldacci Quotes

That’s the function of government—to do for people what they cannot do for themselves.

Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community.

The final end of government is not to exert restraint but to do good.

Government is a progressive instrument for the common good.

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.

Power has only one duty - to secure the social welfare of the People.

There are a lot of good causes out there, but they can't possibly all be served by government.

My concept of government's role in people's lives is that it is limited but legitimate, and essential when people have nowhere else to turn.

The happiness of society is the end of government.

I believe that the role of limited government should be looking after the needs of veterans, the elderly, children and those institutions that improve the quality of life for struggling families - I don't believe that government should bend to serve the needs of subsidized multi-national corporations and entitled billionaires.

The government serves the people - not vice-versa.

Government is instituted for the common good, for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.

A country is not a business and a government should stand for much more than economic efficiency.

The role of government is to protect the public health.

Our object today should be not to weaken government in competition with other centers of power, but rather to strengthen it as the agency charged with responsibility for the common good. That government is best which governs best.

All government is intended for the benefit of the people.

The legitimate object of government is "to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.

We need government to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves.

Are the welfare and safety of the whole body politic anything else than the welfare and safety of all its individual members?

All of us can agree that we want government to work as well as possible, and we should all applaud efforts to improve it. But there is no escaping the divisive and essential questions: What is the purpose of the state, and whom does it serve?

I want to know why the government of this country can't take care of the people who are keeping us safe?

We play politics for the good of our people.

The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or can not so well do, for themselves – in their separate, and individual capacities.

It is not the government's purpose to make a profit the way a company does, because a company doesn't have to give a damn about the unemployed poor or provide services that are non-commercial by definition.

Upon the principles of reason, the good of many is preferable to the good of a few or of one; a lasting good is to be preferred before a temporary, the public before the private.