WIST Quotations

Lincoln, Abraham -- Speech (1854-07-01?), fragment on government

Dave — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 14:15:11 +0000

The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves — in their separate, and individual capacities. In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere.
The desirable things which the individuals of a people can not do, or can not well do, for themselves, fall into two classes: those which have relation to wrongs, and those which have not. Each of these branch off into an infinite variety of subdivisions. The first — that in relation to wrongs — embraces all crimes, misdemeanors, and non-performance of contracts. The other embraces all which, in its nature, and without wrong, requires combined action, as public roads and highways, public schools, charities, pauperism, orphanage, estates of the deceased, and the machinery of government itself.
From this it appears that if all men were just, there still would be some, though not so much, need of government.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) American lawyer, politician, US President (1861-65)
Speech (1854-07-01?), fragment on government
(Source)

The date was assigned (arbitrarily?) to the fragment by Nicolay and Hay. The speech or lecture it was written for is not recorded.

Wilson, Woodrow -- Speech, New York Press Club (9 Sep 1912)

Dave — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 13:11:11 +0000

The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.

Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) US President (1913-20), educator, political scientist
Speech, New York Press Club (9 Sep 1912)

Ivins, Molly -- Essay (1992-03-01), “Good morning, Fort Worth! Glad to be here,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dave — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:52:54 +0000

Me, I think government is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build with or you can use a hammer to destroy with. Whether government is good or bad depends on what you use it for and how well you use it. On the whole, it’s a poor idea to put people in charge of government who don’t believe in using it.

Molly Ivins (1944-2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Essay (1992-03-01), “Good morning, Fort Worth! Glad to be here,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram
(Source)

Responding to Ronald Reagan's famous quip, "Government is not the solution; government is the problem." Collected in Nothin' But Good Times Ahead (1993).

Ivins used a similar comment in her essay, "Wiggy Republicans," Mother Jones (1992-09/10) (also collected in Nothin' but Good Times Ahead (1993)):

Government is just a tool, like a hammer. There’s nothing intrinsically good or evil about the hammer; it all depends on what it’s used for and the skill with which it is used.

She reworked this in the introduction to her book You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You, (1998):

Personally, I think government is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build or you can use a hammer to destroy; there is nothing intrinsically good or evil about the hammer itself. It is the purposes to which it is put and the skill with which it is used that determine whether the hammer's work is good or bad.