“What we need is not more Federal government, but better local government.”

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.

Money will not purchase character or good government.

We demand entire freedom of action and then expect the government in some miraculous way to save us from the consequences of our own acts. Self-government means self-reliance.

Man everywhere has an unconquerable desire to be the master of his own destiny.

It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness.

Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.

I want taxes to be less, that the people may have more.

If the people fail to vote, a government will be developed which is not their government. The whole system of American Government rests on the ballot box. Unless citizens perform their duties there, such a system of government is doomed to failure.

They criticize me for harping on the obvious; if all the folks in the United States would do the few simple things they know they ought to do, most of our big problems would take care of themselves.

The property of the people belongs to the people. To take it from them by taxation cannot be justified except by urgent public necessity. Unless this principle be recognized our country is no longer secure, our people no longer free.

Industry, thrift and self-control are not sought because they create wealth, but because they create character.

Silence can never be misquoted.

We want wealth, but there are many other things we want very much more. Among them are peace, honor, charity, and idealism.

We are too solicitous for government intervention, on the theory, first, that the people themselves are helpless, and second, that the Government has superior capacity for action. Often times both of these conclusions are wrong.

A government which lays taxes on the people not required by urgent public necessity and sound public policy is not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemns the citizen to servitude.

I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can’t be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort.

It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it.

Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.

But we are governed more than we know, and most when we are wildest.

In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.

No government of the left has done as much for the poor as capitalism has. Even when it comes to the redistribution of income, the left talks the talk but the free market walks the walk.

If the government is covering up knowledge of aliens, they are doing a better job of it than they do at anything else.

The one aim of these financiers is world control by the creation of inextinguishable debts.

Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence, and deem them like the ark of the covenant, too sacred to be touched.