Government
Outline · 2 ›
1.The nature, necessity and ends of government
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 309Sovereign, magistrates, counsellors, reward and punishment described as organs of the body politic.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 127–128Visible governments are toys, diseases, harness or burdens of nations.read · scan
1a.Government as necessary to human wants and to restraint of passion
Aeschylus, The FuriesVol. 8
Sophocles, AntigoneVol. 8
- p. 275–276Creon argues rulers must be obeyed, anarchy is the worst evil, and only a man good at home will govern well.read · scan
Herodotus, An Account of EgyptVol. 33
- p. 73–74Egyptians, unable to live without a king, divide the land among twelve kings who pledge not to overpower one another.read · scan
Virgil, The AeneidVol. 13
- p. 91Dido founds a new city and guards her coast, restraining wild inhabitants by statutes.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 242Sailors and patients must heed their helmsman and doctor, showing the need for authority.read · scan
Francis Bacon, Essays, Civil and MoralVol. 3
- p. 37–38Four pillars of government are religion, justice, counsel and treasure; great persons should move like planets under the primum mobile.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 362–363The greatest human power is the united powers of many men in one person, as in a commonwealth or faction.read · scan
- p. 370–371Desire of ease, fear of death and love of knowledge and arts of peace incline men to obey a common power.read · scan
René Descartes, Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the SciencesVol. 34
- p. 12Officers oversee buildings for public ornament; communities do better under a wise legislator.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 109Government founded on opinion versus on might; established laws are deemed just because established; civil war is the worst evil, hereditary succession of a fool the lesser.read · scan
- p. 114Political writings aimed to make the madness of the governed less harmful.read · scan
John Dryden, All for Love; or, The World Well LostVol. 18
- p. 94Antony says the world needs a lord to obey; he and Caesar kept its homage in suspense.read · scan
Alexander Pope, Solitude; On a Certain Lady at Court; Essay on ManVol. 40
- p. 428Self-love itself gives rise to government and laws; safety restrains liberty and jarring interests form a well-mixed state.read · scan
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVol. 37
- p. 322Limits on civil government may be defended by reason about human frailty or by history of ambition's abuses.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 528–529Those who think must govern those who toil; freedom lays proportioned loads on each order.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 147Government, like liberty, is good only in the abstract; one must ask its nature and administration.read · scan
- p. 148Liberty must be joined with public force, revenue, army discipline and obedience to be lasting.read · scan
- p. 197Government is a contrivance of human wisdom to provide human wants, including restraint upon passions.read · scan
- p. 198Framing government is a matter of convenience and delicate skill, requiring knowledge of human nature and needs, not abstract rights.read · scan
Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, The Federalist, Nos. I and IIVol. 43
- p. 199–200Asks whether societies can establish good government by reflection and choice or must depend on accident and force.read · scan
- p. 203Government is indispensably necessary, and people must cede some natural rights to it; asks whether one national government or several confederacies is better.read · scan
George Washington, Washington's Farewell AddressVol. 43
- p. 239A government for the whole Union is indispensable; the people establish the Constitution, owe obedience to it, and factions and unprincipled men threaten to usurp government.read · scan
Thomas Carlyle, Inaugural Address at EdinburghVol. 25
- p. 383–384An epoch of anarchy plus a constable, with policemen guarding against pickpockets.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 308–309Imagines an earthquake in England: government unable to collect taxes or keep authority, leaving violence and rapine uncontrolled.read · scan
Abraham Lincoln, Lincoln's First Inaugural AddressVol. 43
- p. 315–316No government proper has a provision for its own termination.read · scan
James Russell Lowell, Abraham LincolnVol. 28
- p. 445Suppressing rebellion is government's first duty.read · scan
1b.The end of government as the good of the whole
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 36Disciples say what they would do if given office: give people courage or plenty.read · scan
- p. 38Kingcraft needs food, troops and a trusting people; troops are first to be spared.read · scan
- p. 38Trust of the people matters more than food; all men die but a people without trust cannot stand.read · scan
- p. 39Kingcraft: king, minister, father and son each fulfilling their roles.read · scan
Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus AureliusVol. 2
- p. 292Aim life at an object of common, social and political kind.read · scan
Martin Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German NationVol. 36
- p. 279Bishops and princes are charged to defend their people in temporal and spiritual affairs, by national law if needed.read · scan
- p. 332–333Temporal authority should curb vices; rulers must seek the good of their subjects, and authority may be their condemnation.read · scan
Thomas Hobbes, Of Man, Being the First Part of LeviathanVol. 34
- p. 389–390Sovereigns stay in continual posture of war, yet this upholds subjects' industry.read · scan
John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3
- p. 189Addresses Parliament as governors of the commonwealth advancing the public good.read · scan
- p. 206The governing wisdom of a State lies in making evils less hurtful in this world rather than devising Utopian polities.read · scan
John Milton, Paradise RegainedVol. 4
- p. 395Hebrew prophets teach civil government better than Greek and Roman oratory: what makes a nation happy and what ruins kingdoms.read · scan
Sir Henry Vane, A Healing QuestionVol. 43
- p. 119–120Present rule serves a private, selfish interest rather than the common good, so the party is falling into division.read · scan
- p. 121Government is ordained by God for the people's good, not the rulers' private benefit.read · scan
- p. 129–130Righteous government balances sovereignty and subjection, applying the sword to the public welfare of the whole through impartial administration.read · scan
- p. 136–137Aims to answer rulers' call for conviction and promote the common public interest above private selfish concern.read · scan
William Penn, Some Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 348Government is made an end rather than a means.read · scan
- p. 351The end of government is the good of the whole; service by inclination goes further than compulsion.read · scan
William Penn, More Fruits of SolitudeVol. 1
- p. 378He wants government to promote virtue, peace, liberty, employ the poor, advance trade and suppress vice.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 211–212A sovereign power to govern, defend members and repel common enemies.read · scan
- p. 215–216Rulers were instituted for protection of lives, liberties and properties.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 509Statesmen are called on to judge the limits between a splendid and a happy land.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 167–168Sovereign power has no rational end but the general advantage; law calls him 'sovereign Lord the king'.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 391–392Government exists to oppose sovereign reason to will and caprice in rulers and ruled alike.read · scan
Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27
- p. 231Parliament, as the people's delegates, holds supreme power, with public utility as its only criterion of right and wrong.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 318Elevation is not gained by political power; no class should monopolize rule and all conditions should be represented and protected.read · scan
George Washington, Washington's Farewell AddressVol. 43
- p. 248His neutrality aimed to let young institutions mature and give the country command of its own fortunes.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-RelianceVol. 5
- p. 82Institutions and governments are esteemed as guards of property.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5
- p. 239–240Government exists to protect persons and property; the two claims shape its form.read · scan
- p. 241The highest end of government is the culture of men; institutions follow their improvement and moral sentiment writes law.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 292Preventive function of government is more liable to abuse than punishing; public authority may guard against crime and accidents.read · scan
1c.The doctrine that the best government is the least
See also: Liberty 6a
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 50–51Shun ruled by doing nothing, needing only self-respect and a kingly look.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, PoemsVol. 41
- p. 531Little of human suffering can be caused or cured by laws or kings, even tyrannical ones.read · scan
William Ellery Channing, On the Elevation of the Laboring ClassesVol. 28
- p. 318The importance of government is overrated; political institutions should not be deified.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, PoliticsVol. 5
- p. 247Governments blunder in one man undertaking for another; force is a practical lie, and taxes show the satire.read · scan
- p. 247Emerson holds the less government the better; formal government is a shabby imitation of the wise man's character.read · scan
- p. 248–249Government of force lasts while men are selfish; pure men could devise public ends without the bayonet.read · scan
- p. 250Governments founded on force are tolerated because men lack faith that society can be maintained without artificial restraints.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, New England ReformersVol. 5
- p. 255Growing dissent from government: 'the world is governed too much'; individuals nullify and resist the State.read · scan
- p. 261Government will be adamantine without any governor when men are inwardly united in individualism.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 460Emerson presents the American dogma of no-government and non-resistance as the true theory of the country's future.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, AutobiographyVol. 25
- p. 156She kept him from a tendency to over-government, social and political, and from becoming less of a democrat.read · scan
John Stuart Mill, On LibertyVol. 25
- p. 201–202English feeling against government interference is often misplaced, resting on habit of viewing government as opposed to the public.read · scan
- p. 203No settled principle tests when government interference is proper; people decide by preference.read · scan
- p. 210The best government has no more title to coerce opinion than the worst.read · scan
- p. 213Public authority acts on its own judgment and responsibility, in taxes, wars and restraint of opinions.read · scan
- p. 290The principles must be admitted before consistent application to departments of government and morals.read · scan
- p. 298Police regulation of public resorts and licensing is fit, but further restraint belongs to despotic or paternal government, inconsistent with free institutions.read · scan
Henry David Thoreau, WalkingVol. 28
- p. 399–400Politics is a narrow field that occupies little space and is forgotten in the forest.read · scan
1d.Government as a trust open to criticism and reform
See also: Reasoning 4c
Confucius, The Sayings of ConfuciusVol. 44
- p. 66–67Sage kings charged to keep the golden mean and take blame for the people.read · scan
John Milton, AreopagiticaVol. 3
- p. 189Parliament's mild government shown by welcoming public advice, unlike jealous prelates and counselors.read · scan
- p. 190–191Parliament praised for accepting written exceptions to its orders and repealing acts, unlike earlier courts.read · scan
- p. 210–211The State may be governor but not critic; it can err in choosing a licenser as he in judging an author.read · scan
- p. 222–225The people's inquiry shows contentedness and confidence in Parliament's prudent foresight and safe government.read · scan
- p. 231–232Errors befall good and bad governments alike; a magistrate's virtue is to redress errors speedily, which press control by a few hinders.read · scan
John Dryden, Postscript to the ReaderVol. 13
- p. 425–426He hopes the government will let him pass unquestioned and acknowledges patronage despite differing party.read · scan
Samuel Johnson, Life of Addison, 1672-1719Vol. 27
- p. 171The Freeholder defended the established government with argument and humour.read · scan
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, A Discourse upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality among MankindVol. 34
- p. 219Magistrates are bound to rule according to constituents' intent, protect property and prefer the public good.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 258The sovereign and officers of justice and war are servants of the public, maintained by others' produce.read · scan
Oliver Goldsmith, She Stoops to ConquerVol. 18
- p. 221–222Hardcastle gave up fretting over government's mistakes since it never improved; elections are the betters electing each other.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 145Notes a dissenting club's private sermon-and-dinner custom became a public political sanction of a foreign assembly.read · scan
- p. 146–147Private clubs adopting corporate-seeming descriptions to address a foreign government is deceptive; the Commons would reject such petitions.read · scan
Edmund Burke, A Letter to a Noble LordVol. 24
- p. 389Burke acted on state principles to cure a distemper in the commonwealth: weak government and parliament losing dignity.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 84–86The drinkers mock the Holy Roman Empire in song and joke about electing a pope, treating rulers lightly.read · scan
Sydney Smith, Fallacies of Anti-ReformersVol. 27
- p. 228–229Government is wrongly transferred from those best able to judge their needs to generations who know nothing of them.read · scan
- p. 235No degree of governors' virtue makes good laws and institutions dispensable; officials falsely claim probity to escape inquiry and reform.read · scan
- p. 236–237Public trustees should be presumed liable to abuse; institutions must guard against breach of trust rather than rely on officials' virtue.read · scan
- p. 239Rejects the screen that attacking abuses attacks government itself; imperfections must be pointed out to be improved.read · scan
- p. 239–240Criticizing rulers is not hostility to government; government is a trust like guardianship, and critics want it better exercised.read · scan
- p. 240–241Good government requires exposure of rulers' faults; lowering governors in public estimation is the way to beneficial change, not dissolution.read · scan
- p. 244–245Bad governments and laws exist; attacking defects is not attacking government, yet defenders of abuses claim so.read · scan
- p. 245–246Holders of abuses join together to block any correction and feign support for reform.read · scan
- p. 248Opposing a measure is justified by distrust of ministers and by the fear that concessions will follow.read · scan
- p. 248Claims that opposing ministers is opposing government and brings anarchy and civil war.read · scan
- p. 248–251Fallacies serve to obstruct removal of abuses in the frame and practice of government.read · scan
- p. 251Removing fallacies would improve the practice of government.read · scan
William Cullen Bryant, PoemsVol. 42
- p. 1223–1224He bore the sword of power as a nation's trust in fear of God.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, CompensationVol. 5
- p. 95Fear has long hovered over government and property, indicating wrongs to be revised.read · scan
Ralph Waldo Emerson, English TraitsVol. 5
- p. 447The press exposes secrets and abuses, forcing reform and undermining feudal privilege in England.read · scan
Hans Christian Andersen, TalesVol. 17
- p. 345–346The Market Basket speaks uneasily about the government and the people, and is called liberal.read · scan
Outline · 2 ›