Spencer W. Kimball Quotes

We have a great nation to help govern. We who are citizens of this great republic are favored children, yet we are all the time complaining; but that is one of the inalienable privileges of an American to complain about his neighbor and government-always crying for a change. But, with all of its faults, this is the best government for man on the face of the earth

Every friend to the liberty of his country is bound to reflect, and step forward to prevent the dreadful consequences which shall result from a government of events.

Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage.

Join America taught English, an understanding of the U.S. Constitution, that the Bill of Rights is the ultimate insurance policy for a citizen, and that being a citizen is not an entitlement. And we also taught a bit of capitalism.

We receive from America the right to vote as Americans, for America's weal, and if we cannot use our privilege as Americans we should surrender it.

The health of our republic depends on shared principles like the First Amendment, but it is also built on the Teddy Roosevelt-like vigor of its citizens and local self-reliance.

Not voting is disrespecting the best of what this nation stands for.

This is a country that I love and that I believe in, but at the same time also believe that you should, as a part of this country, have the right to be able to talk very clearly about the issues that are happening, going on.

Good citizenship and defending democracy means living up to the ideals and values that make this country great.

The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open.

At its most basic the democratic contract is a simple one: the right to vote comes with a responsibility to society, through tax payments and citizenship.

You can't be a full participant in our democracy if you don't know our history.

Balancing the common good with the freedom and liberty to exercise that individuality has been and remains a challenge for those committed to democracy while understanding that the polis ensures our participation and therefore our citizenship.

The value of government to the people it serves is in direct relationship to the interest citizens themselves display in the affairs of state.

No citizen is apolitical; as a citizen, by definition, has to take interest in public affairs.

We have a right to know and a duty to discover what you think of the great constitutional issues of our time.

We’re a democracy and we’re defended by volunteers.

The citizens of America are her monarchs. No country deserves so well of its people, and none is so dependent upon them.

What is good for democracy is good for America.

I am not an American who believes that questioning or criticizing my government is unpatriotic.

Citizens are refined, cultivated, and very political. I believe in the legitimacy of their participation.

For citizens to always be ready to defend and to maintain American ideals of public justice and liberty would add to the self respect of the people. It will teach the people to think of their government as a unified and exalted power for good in the world—humane, unselfish, and aspiring.

Because all of us believe that our democratic form of government can cope adequately with modern problems as they arise, it is patriotic as well as logical for us to prove that we can meet new national needs with new laws consistent with a historic constitutional framework clearly intended to receive liberal and not narrow interpretation.

To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.

America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy, but won't cross the street to vote.