Leonard Garment Quotes

Towering over Presidents and State Governors, over Congress and State Legislatures, over conventions and the vast machinery of party, public opinion stands out in the United States, as the great source of Power.

In a democracy, as a matter of course, every effort is made to seize upon and create publick opinion, which is, substantially, securing power.

Let the people think they govern and they will be governed.

The people have spoken. Their decision is sovereign. We all respect it... I wish good luck to those who will now govern France.

A statesman, we are told, should follow public opinion. Doubtless, as a coachman follows his horses; having firm hold on the reins and guiding them.

That could have been a very successful Presidency had President Nixon really believed in our system.

The people who own the country ought to govern it.

Are the governors such exceptionally gifted men as to enable them … to represent the masses and act in the interests of all men better than all men would be able to act for themselves?

Look, the people will elect the government they think best.

Politics is the art of controlling your environment.

The essence of a free government consists in an effectual control of rivalries.

The great constitutional corrective in the hands of the people against usurpation of power, or corruption by their agents is the right of suffrage; and this when used with calmness and deliberation will prove strong enough.

Polls make leadership impossible.

It is undoubtedly the business of ministers very much to consult the inclinations of the people, but they ought to take great care that they do not receive that inclination from the few persons who may happen to approach them.

In a republican land the power behind the throne is the power.

The government is just the people acting together.

If the people be governors, who shall be governed?

Our government has become a system rather than a living expression of the popular will.

Democracy is about aggregating the collective power of citizens to speak in their behalf.

I trust the American People more than American Institutions.

...nations have no command over their governments, & in fact no influence over them, except of a fleeting & rather ineffectual sort.

Politics determine who has the power, not who has the truth.

Ours is a government elected by the people and it will not succumb to threats.

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.

The national will is the supreme law of the Republic, and on all subjects within the limits of his constitutional powers should be faithfully obeyed by the public servant.