Massachusetts House of Representatives Quotes

We had extremely democratic town councils in medieval Italy which knew the value of working together, and every now and then, down the centuries, this spirit returns.

Politics is the art of providing for the general welfare. It's the great human cooperative institution. It, in principle, is not competitive. It's an attempt of a community of people to get together in order to solve their problems …

Earlier pluralist societies destroyed themselves because no one took care of the common good. They abounded in communities but could not sustain community, let alone create it.

We are seeing a great awakening. A national movement of We the People, brought together by what unites us - a shared love of liberty, and an understanding of the unlimited potential of free men and free women.

I believe in cooperating for the common good.

I'm honored to serve as mayor of my hometown where our founders started America with three simple words: 'We, the people.' And when they said 'people' they didn't mean 'corporations.'

Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests. The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.

Chicago is one city. We shall work as one people for our common good and our common goals.

Government can contribute to a shared sense of purpose on the part of the citizenry; that's its highest and best application.

This country was founded by individuals who worked together for the common good.

The good of man must be the goal of the science of politics.

Government is a progressive instrument for the common good.

Being a citizen in a democracy involves more than just voting. It means being involved for the common whole.

The people have a right to assemble together, to consult for their common good-to instruct their representatives, and to apply to the legislature for redress of grievances, by address, petition or remonstrance.

Liberty was realized when the citizens were ... willing to sacrifice their private interests for the sake of the community

There is no one left to fix the nation, none but all of us.

We want to create a society that is working for us and with us - and we're working for society, not against it.

Elections should highlight principled disagreements, but they must not obscure our capacity to cooperate for the common good.

Let us heed the voice of the people and recognize their common sense. If we do not, we not only blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the common ties that bind all Americans.

There is no force so democratic as the force of an ideal.

I believe nobody is stronger than the state. So the state would be strong, and we have to work altogether to make the strength of the state.

We're quite lucky that we've got political freedoms. We should be using them.

Everyone living under the social contract we call democracy has a duty to act responsibly, to obey the laws, and to abandon certain types of self-interested behaviors that conflict with the general good.

Political civility is not about being polite to each other. It's about reclaiming the power of 'We the People' to come together, debate the common good and call American democracy back to its highest values amid our differences.

There are two kinds of people in this world. 'I' people and 'we' people. I've always tried to be a 'we' person.