Dominic Grieve Quotes

I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.

The government serves the people - not vice-versa.

As taxpayers, we pay our elected officials to serve the people and protect our state and our interests.

The idea of the state is, or should be, a very limited, prescribed idea. The state looks after the defense of the realm, and other matters - raising revenue to pay for things which are for all of us, and so on. That idea has turned turtle now. The state isn't any longer perceived as an institution which exists to serve us.

If there's anything a public servant hates to do it's something for the public.

Having been given that public trust, we have a responsibility to share with the public.

And we did it because it's time for City Hall to stop looking out for City Hall and start looking out for the people like you and me who are footing the bill.

Government is not show business.

Ask not what you can do for your country; ask what your government is doing to you.

All government is intended for the benefit of the people.

It is the obligation of every government to yield protection to their citizens as the consideration for their obedience

The only orthodox object of the institution of government is to secure the greatest degree of happiness possible to the general mass of those associated under it.

A body politic is a social compact by which the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good.

The business of serving the American people is a tough, and sometimes thankless task.

We ought to find a way for government to work for the people rather then have the people work for the government.

The state must be the first to be organized and totally committed to serving the interests of the people. We must always be clear that the example is set at the top.

The only just government is the government that serves its citizens, not itself.

I think it's always easy to be sympathetic to parts of the government in detail; in their concrete manifestations. Because obviously, we don't have government for no reason.

The fact of the matter is that the government is there to protect the people.

I'm, you know, having begun my public service in state government. I very much respect the authority of states to make the decisions to provide for its citizen - the safety and welfare of its citizens.

The basic social contract is that citizens agree to follow the law, pay their taxes, and devote their love and loyalty to their country, and in exchange, the nation commits to preserve and protect and serve their interests, safeguard their freedom, and return to them in kind their first allegiance and loyalty.

In a free country, government is a dull and onerous responsibility. It is a parent-teacher conference.

I think I would just want to say that I do view serving in government as an honor, and I do view it as a responsibility.

It so happens that after a certain stage, we have to give in to the wishes of the people rather than your own satisfaction. I look at it as my responsibility to satisfy the wishes of the people more than mine.

Government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people; it wasn't intended to be all things to all people.