Leo XIII Quotes

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.

Every society, all government, and every kind of civil compact therefore, is or ought to be, calculated for the general good and safety of the community.

The legitimate acts of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.

A government role in our society should be inherently suspect …. There is something inherently coercive in the nature of government.

We also need to find a language capable of defending government as an element of the common good, one that does not define itself as both a punishing and corporate state. This is not merely a matter of redefining sovereignty, but also rethinking what is distinctive about the social state, social responsibility, and the common good.

But on the other hand government takes away a certain amount of liberty and in some countries it takes away all of liberty. And it will, everywhere, if people who fight government do not fight government any longer.

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.

For all the huffing and blowing we get about rugged individualism, the American spirit and the American experiment always have had at their heart the notion that the government is all of us and that, therefore, the government may keep things in trust for all of us.

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.

We don't need a weakened government but a strong government that would take responsibility for the rights of the individual and care for the society as a whole.

Providing for the common good, making people feel secure in their communities and homes - this is the central job of government. it's why all of us are here serving our state and our people.

It is not the constitutional prerogative of the Government to determine needs.

The state can be a force for good. The Rule of law is absolutely essential to a good life. God has instituted government and leaders throughout history and throughout the Biblical narrative. However, the state is growing precisely as the church is fading as a force for good, and this does not seem to be a good trend.

The need for Government is the need for force; where force is unnecessary, there is no need for Government.

We believe that government works for the benefit of private life, and not the other way around.

The happiness of society is the end of government.

The Left regards the Constitution as defective and outmoded - in part because it impedes the government's ability to control institutions, like churches and families, which stand between the state and individuals.

Government is instituted for the common good, for the protection, safety, prosperity, and happiness of the people and not for the profit, honor, or private interest of any one man, family, or class of men.

The purpose of government is to obtain the greatest quantity of human happiness.

Government is a progressive instrument for the common good.

Our object today should be not to weaken government in competition with other centers of power, but rather to strengthen it as the agency charged with responsibility for the common good. That government is best which governs best.

All government is intended for the benefit of the people.

The real needs of the people ought never give way to the imaginary wants of the state.

We need government to do for the people what they cannot do for themselves.

No nation can be free unless it is strong enough and active enough to control, whenever necessary, every private individual or group whose action affects the general welfare