13 QUOTES

[Orwellian_Ghost]

"When change of rulers happens to a state 'tis but a change of name for the poor."

- Phaedrus: Fables (c. 25BC)

"I entered parliament with what I thought to be the lowest possible opinion of the average member. I came out with one still lower."

- John Stuart Mill

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force."

- George Washington

"Politicians do not serve ideals; they make use of ideals."

- A.J.P. Taylor

"Between the government which does evil and the people who accept it there is a certain shameful solidarity."

- Victor Hugo

"Every advantage gained by the people has been gained in defiance of government, never by its aid or as a gift."

- Monty Miller (1916)

"In general the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one part of the citizens, and giving It to another."

- Voltaire

"The less government, the better, the fewer laws, and the less confided power."

- Emerson

"Politicians are men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, and who, to say the most of them, are taken as a class at least one long step removed from honest men : and I say this with the greater freedom, because I am myself a politician and none can regard it as personal."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Real change comes about not because we vote for it, but because we fight for it, shout for it, work for it. Placing hopes and fears on who holds power, or who will gain power through voting, is wasting time which might be spent in creating alternatives, both for ourselves and for our communities."

Chumbawamba - 1987

"A statesman is an easy man,
He tells his lies by rote.
A journalist makes up his lies,
And takes you by the throat.
So stay at home and drink your beer,
And let the neighbours vote."

- W. B. Yeats

"Those who choose the lesser evil forget quickly they chose evil."

- Hannah Arendt

"Nearly all great men are bad men. Power is poison....The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern; every class is unfit to govern."

- Lord Acton

[many a good man]

1. If you don't vote, you give ALL the power to those least deserving

instead of just most of the power to those less deserving. Shut up and GOTV!

TAP

[Orsino]

2. Emerson was a dreamer.

The less confided power, the better, of course, but as civilization increases in complexity, more laws are needed to protect citizens.

[Bandit]

3. Those quotes all seem quite right wing to me.

I happen to like Government and think it is the only civilized method of operation. A "Good Government" IMO is one that takes care of it's citizenry..National Health Care, Clean environment, fight corruption, maintain nations infrastructure, provide public education, and ensure no one starves within the nation. Provide for the security of everyone so everyone doesn't have to fend for themselves.

[unblock]

5. i'd characterize them as libertarian

right-wingers such as the current crop certainly don't believe is minimal government or oversight.

i believe in government, when done well. nevertheless, i do believe in a healthy distrust of government and power in general.
i choose to address this concern with oversight and vigilence rather than minimalism.

[warren pease]

4. More from J. S. Mill...

"Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives."

The more things change...


"What ever crushes individuality is despotism, no matter what name it is called."

Or, as Orwell put it in far grimmer terms, "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face -- forever."


"The idea that truth always triumphs over persecution is one of those pleasant falsehoods, which most experience refutes. History is teeming with instances of truth put down by persecution."

We'll see by next January if this pattern will repeat, or if we'll somehow manage to rid ourselves of the horrible, self-inflicted curse of the Bush/Cheney regime.


wp

[Hydra]

6. Good quotes

Too bad so many drinkers of kool-aid, here.

[madinmaryland]

7. Here's another good one...

"Obstetricians and OB/GYN's just want to practice their love on women"

GWB.