Citizenship Quotes

“If we would have our citizens contented and law-abiding, we must not sow the seeds of discontent in childhood by denying children their birthright of play.”

“My power vanishes into thin air the instant that my fellow citizens, who are straight and honest, cease to believe that I represent them and fight for what is straight and honest. That is all the strength that I have.”

“The good citizen will demand liberty for himself, and as a matter of pride he will see to it that others receive the liberty which he thus claims as his own. Probably the best test of true love of liberty in any country is the way in which minorities are treated in that country. Not only should there be complete liberty in matters of religion and opinion, but complete liberty for each man to lead his life as he desires, provided only that in so doing he does not wrong his neighbor.”

“The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his own weight.”

“Citizenship is what makes a republic - monarchies can get along without it.”

“I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved in order to stand up for my own values and beliefs. My candidacy is based on my record, and for that matter, my entire life.”

“Our whole system of government is based on "We the people," but if we the people don't pay attention to what's going on, we have no right to bellyache or squawk when things go wrong.”

“I'm not a politician by profession. I am a citizen who decided I had to be personally involved.”

“I'm just a citizen temporarily in public service.”

“The citizen who thinks he sees that the commonwealth's political clothes are worn out, and yet holds his peace and does not agitate for a new suit, is disloyal, he is a traitor. That he may be the only one who thinks he sees this decay, does not excuse him: it is his duty to agitate anyway, and it is the duty of others to vote him down if they do not see the matter as he does.”

“[N]o country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.”

“We have the means to change the laws we find unjust or onerous. We cannot, as citizens, pick and choose the laws we will or will not obey.”

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”

“Every citizen of the republic ought to consider himself an unofficial policeman, and keep unsalaried watch and ward over the laws and their execution.”

“Those who refuse to engage in politics will be led by their inferiors”

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

“My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its office-holders.”

“Good citizenship and defending democracy means living up to the ideals and values that make this country great.”

“By education I mean that training in excellence from youth upward which makes a man passionately desire to be a perfect citizen, and teaches him to rule, and to obey, with justice. This is the only education which deserves the name.”

“The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”

“Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”

“Loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”

“This City is what it is because our citizens are what they are.”

“Rights of true citizenship accrue only to those who serve the State to which they belong.”

“I always say there's no ticket of admission for active citizenship. Anybody can get through that gate, and anybody can ask that basic question that gets the ball rolling.”