I Heard the Government Is Putting Chips Inside of People

 

Baruch Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677)

The ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain, by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to free every man from fear, that he may live in all possible security; in other words, to strengthen his natural right to exist and work without injury to himself or others.
No, the object of government is not to change men from rational beings into beasts or puppets, but to enable them to develop their minds and bodies in security, and to employ their reason unshackled; neither showing hatred, anger, or deceit, nor watched with the eyes of jealousy and injustice. In fact, the true aim of government is liberty.
Spinoza, Theological-Political Treatise (1670)

(Art by Mitch Breitweiser)

Taylor Caldwell (September 7, 1900 – August 30, 1985)

A wise man distrusts his neighbor. A wiser man distrusts both his neighbor and himself. The wisest man of all distrusts his government.
Janet Miriam Holland Taylor Caldwell

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832)

A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government.
Goethe, Conversations with Goethe, 1824.

If Government is the Answer...

Great Freemasons: John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932)

‎
‎"Any composer who is gloriously conscious that he is a composer must believe that he receives his inspiration from a source higher than himself."



"Governmental aid is a drawback rather than an assistance, as, although it may facilitate in the routine of artistic production, it is an impediment to the development of true artistic genius."
John Philip Sousa

Henry Clay (1777 - 1852)

"All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty." Henry Clay

Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)

"Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil." Thomas Paine

H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. – H.L. Mencken

James Madison

"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." James Madison

P.J. O'Roarke

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. – P.J. O'Rourke

Gaius Cornelius Tacitus

The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates. Tacitus