A wise government knows how to enforce with temper, or to conciliate with dignity, but a weak one is odious in the former, and contemptible in the latter.

Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.

Far more important to me is, that I should be loyal to what I regard as the law of my political life, which is this: a belief that that country is best governed, which is least governed ...

It [Calvinism] established a religion without a prelate, a government without a king.

When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves.

Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair.