Daniel Webster Quotes

Members of Congress are people too.

Many Americans do not understand that the officers of the government are simply the servants of the people.

Representative democracy has for its characteristic object and effect…securing its members against oppression and depredation at the hands of those functionaries which it employs for its defense.

It is the healthiest thing in a democracy when the people who are elected exert power.

No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation.

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?

… once you acknowledge the fact that Congress is after all made up of citizens elected to represent all of us, you must have some faith in their framing common sense laws.

Whereas the constitution of … Holland is in its principles a popular representation, it is necessary that the right of the people be duly ascertained; that the members of the States be rendered responsible to them for their conduct and be precluded from taking any decisive step without their consent …

We elect these people not to represent their parties but to represent us.

A whole people with the ballot in their hands possess the most conclusive and unlimited power ever entrusted to humanity.

Citizens do not just make up and preserve a Republic; they are its ultimate stakeholders and in fact pillars.

It's a question of whether or not we the people are still in charge. And by 'we the people,' I mean, is this truly a government of and by and for the people.

I do not subscribe to the doctrine that the people are the slaves and property of their government. I believe that government is for the use of the people, and not the people for the use of the government.

I come from election, I come from the people. I owe gratitude to our people. I do everything for the good of the country and the people.

I have to thank the People, the Congress, and the Government of the United States for my liberation.

When a government for the people becomes a government in spite of the people, then who are we really serving?

All free governments are managed by the combined wisdom and folly of the people.

Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.

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

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.

With fear of stating the obvious: Freedom belongs to 'We the People,' not 'They the Politicians.'

Laws are important precisely because in a democracy they reflect the attitudes and aspirations of those they govern.

The American people need to know the truth. The American people need to see the truth. In a democracy, letting the people know the truth is the essence of what it means to be free.

I ask the rights to pursue happiness by having a voice in that government to which I am accountable.

The submission of free people to the executive authority of government, is no more than a compliance with laws which they themselves have enacted.