Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

History, in general, only informs us of what bad government is.

No government ought to be without censors; and where the press is free no one ever will.

My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.

Conquest is not in our principles. It is inconsistent with our government.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.

A wise and frugal Government, which shall retrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.

I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.