"Government ought to be as much open..." - Quote by Thomas Paine
Government ought to be as much open to improvement as anything which appertains to man, instead of which it has been monopolized from age to age, by the most ignorant and vicious of the human race. Need we any other proof of their wretched management, than the excess of debts and taxes with which every nation groans, and the quarrels into which they have precipitated the world?"
More by Thomas Paine
“It is important that we should never lose sight of this distinction. We must not confuse the peoples with their governments.”
“An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.”
“Truth never envelops itself in mystery, and the mystery in which it is at any time enveloped is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself.”
More on Government
“The people will save their government, if the government itself will allow them.”
“Because many of us make mistakes that can have bad consequences, some intellectuals believe that it is the role of government to intervene and make some of our decisions for us. From what galaxy government is going to hire creatures who do not make mistakes is a question they leave unanswered.”
“The last official act of any government is to loot the treasury.”
More on Reform
“Government has been a fossil: it should be a plant.”
“The history of reform is always identical; it is the comparison of the idea with the fact. Our modes of living are not agreeable to our imagination. We suspect they are unworthy. We arraign our daily employments.”
“There is no such thing as accomplishing a righteous reform by the use of "expediency." There is no such thing as sliding up- hill.In morals the only sliders are backsliders.”