Hilary Benn Quotes

Government itself is founded upon the great doctrine of the consent of the governed, and has its cornerstone in the memorable principle that men are endowed with inalienable rights.

The only reason of the institution of civil government; and the only rational ground of submission to it, is the common safety and utility.

Laws made by common consent must not be trampled on by individuals.

The only moral Foundation of Government is the Consent of the People. But to what an Extent Shall We carry this Principle? Shall We Say, that every Individual of the Community, old and young, male and female, as well as rich and poor, must consent, expressly to every Act of Legislation? No, you will say. This is impossible. How then does the Right arise in the Majority to govern the Minority, against their Will? Whence arises the Right of the Men to govern Women, without their Consent? Whence the Right of the old to bind the Young, without theirs.

The consent of the governed" is more than a safeguard against ignorant tyrants: it is an insurance against benevolent despots as well.

The people, have chosen to be governed under such and such principles. They have not chosen to be governed or proposed to submit upon any other.

How can you ever ensure that you will get a beneficent dictator?

I consent to this constitution because I can expect no better.

Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.

The general laws of the kingdom may be enacted only with the consent of the king and the nation. If the king proposes a law, the nation accepts or rejects it; if the nation demands a law, it is for the king to consent or to reject it

Resolved-1st, That the People are the source of all legitimate power; and, That We are the People.

All governments must maintain power by consent. Not by coercion.

The law, the will of the majority expressed in orderly, constitutional methods, is the only king to which we bow.

The danger to all well-established free governments arises from the unwillingness of the people to believe in its existence.

The authority of the people is a necessary foundation for a constitution

The government and people are inseparable under our system. We could not separate the government from the people if we would, and we would not if we could. This unity is the strength of our political structure.

When parties become subversive of the ends for which they are established, or incapable of restoring the government to the true principles of the Constitution, it is the right and duty of the people to dissolve the political bands by which they may have been connected therewith, and to organize new parties upon such principles and with such views as the circumstances and exigencies of the nation may demand

The most basic building block of any successful government is, first and foremost, a moral authority over the people it leads.

Validity was restored to the laws, authority to the courts, and dignity to the Senate

Rebellion against a king may be pardoned, or lightly punished, but the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death.

In Europe, charters of liberty have been granted by power. America has set the example ... of charters of power granted by liberty.

The people made this government, and not the government the people. Destroy the intelligence of the people, and the government could not exist for a day; — destroy this government, and the people would create another, and yet another, of no less perfect symmetry.

Democracy is nothing more than an experiment in government, more likely to succeed in a new soil, but likely to be tried in all soils, which must stand or fall on its own merits as others have done before it. For there is no trick of perpetual motion in politics any more than in mechanics.

All men are, by nature, equal and free: No one has the right to any authority over another without his consent: All lawful government is founded on the consent of those who are subject to it: Such consent was given with a view to ensure the happiness of the governed.

Well, will anybody deny now that the government at Washington [America], as regards its own people, is the strongest government in the world at this hour? And for this simple reason, that it is based on the will, and the good will, of an instructed people.