Quotes about Citizens
Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people.
— John Adams
The proposition that the people are the best keepers of their own liberties is not true. They are the worst conceivable, they are no keepers at all they can neither judge, act, think, or will, as a political body.
— John Adams
Does the government fear us? Or do we fear the government? When the people fear the government, tyranny has found victory. The federal government is our servant, not our master!
— Thomas Jefferson
The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind.
— Thomas Jefferson
I thought the function of the government was to promote the general welfare, not to provide it.
— Ronald Reagan
A nation under a well regulated government, should permit none to remain uninstructed. It is monarchical and aristocratical government only that requires ignorance for its support.
— Thomas Paine
Every individual of the community at large has an equal right to the protection of government.
— Alexander Hamilton
The trouble with government as it is, is that it doesn't represent the people. It controls them.
— John Lennon
Democracy is "government of, by and for the people".
— Abraham Lincoln
It's important to make sure that governments have some checks on what they do, that people can oversee what's being done so the government doesn't abuse it.
— Barack Obama
Secrecy and a free, democratic government don't mix.
— Harry S. Truman
The further the departure from direct and constant control by the citizens, the less has the government of the ingredient of republicanism.
— Thomas Jefferson