Top 100 Quotes About Limited Government
#1. Someday I hope Americans will not believe that anyone had to spend his or her days fighting for limited government because everyone they know wants maximum freedom and minimum statism.
Grover Norquist
#2. You can't ignore the reality that faith and family, those two things are integral parts of having limited government, lower taxes, and free societies.
Rick Santorum
#3. Americans for Tax Reform is a national taxpayer organization dedicated to opposing any and all tax increases. We work at the national, state and local level for lower taxes, less government spending and limited government.
Grover Norquist
#4. I was born a limited-government person. I've always had this streak going through me.
Joe Lhota
#5. We ought to have more people who believe in constitutionally limited government. We have to have more people come to Congress with that mindset. I think we can make this a better place, if, when elections happen, we support candidates who share that philosophy.
Mike Lee
#6. There can be no such thing as "limited government," because there is no way to control an entity that in principle enjoys a monopoly of power ...
Joseph Sobran
#7. And conservatives know that if you reject these principles of limited government and urge others to reject them you can be my ally, you can be my friend but you cannot call yourself a conservative.
Mike Pence
#8. We believe that human happiness requires freedom and that freedom requires limited government.
Charles A. Murray
#9. I am just absolutely convinced that the best formula for giving us peace and preserving the American way of life is freedom, limited government, and minding our own business overseas.
Ron Paul
#10. I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.
Rand Paul
#11. Pastors can lead the way in motivating the faithful to wise stewardship of their citizenship responsibilities. Without a healthy culture and civil society, limited government and ordered liberty will be impossible.
Edwin Meese
#12. We Libertarians believe in "Limited Government" precisely because we believe in unlimited liberty. Reduce one, and you decrease the other.
A.E. Samaan
#13. We believe a renewed commitment to limited government will unshackle our economy and create millions of new jobs and opportunities for all people, of every background, to succeed and prosper. Under this approach, the spirit of initiative - not political clout - determines who succeeds.
Paul Ryan
#14. You know, you don't retreat in the defense of freedom. You don't retreat in the defense of moral government and limited government. You don't retreat because people are going to defend bad things.
Russell Pearce
#15. A fact rarely suspected, let alone understood, is that businessmen are by no means the chief beneficiaries of the free market, private ownership, limited government way of life. Many business ventures fail entirely. Who then are the beneficiaries? The masses!
Leonard Read
#16. Conservative Republicans are back. We're in the fight for fiscal discipline and limited government, and we are on the side of the American people.
Mike Pence
#17. The problem is big government. If whoever controls government can impose his way upon you, you have to fight constantly to prevent the control from being harmful. With small, limited government, it doesn't much matter who controls it, because it can't do you much harm.
Harry Browne
#18. I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the economic values of freedom and opportunity and limited government that has made us the powerhouse of the world.
Mitt Romney
#19. Because of my upbringing, I believe in things like limited government, fiscal responsibility and personal accountability. I believe in the wisdom of our founders and the sanctity of our Constitution.
John Thune
#20. Americans oppose Obamacare because they understand that it is inconsistent with our liberties and our idea of limited government and that it will destroy the best health care system in the world.
David Limbaugh
#21. I certainly believe in limited government but protecting children against injury abuse is certainly inside my sphere of things that the government should do.
Mitch Daniels
#22. I'm really focused on, is making sure that, for the broadest number of Americans possible, limited government and free enterprise, the principles that have truly helped build our country into an exceptional one, is one that is being sold to and appeals to the broadest number of Americans.
Marco Rubio
#23. The Founders knew that a democracy would lead to some kind of tyranny. The term democracy appears in none of our Founding documents. Their vision for us was a Republic and limited government.
Walter E. Williams
#24. I follow a set of principles, I follow the Constitution. And that's what I base my votes on. Limited government, economic freedom and individual liberty.
Justin Amash
#25. You can't have a limited government if the family breaks down.
Rick Santorum
#26. As a conservative who believes in limited government, I believe that the only check on government power in real time is a free and independent press.
Mike Pence
#27. We believe, as our founders did, that 'the pursuit of happiness' depends upon individual liberty; and individual liberty requires limited government.
Paul Ryan
#28. While I am a fervent believer in free markets and limited government, there are rare instances in which government involvement is necessary.
Steve Largent
#29. I knew that if we were going to actually defeat Harry Reid, we had to have a candidate who would offer a sharp policy contrast. Someone who would not just pay lip service to limited government principles, but had a solid record of voting that way time and again. I'm that candidate.
Sharron Angle
#30. Ultimately it must be accepted by advocates of limited government that the same guns that are promised to protect the population may be used on them.
Daniel Alexander Brackins
#31. Limited government must come politically, not judicially.
Mike Lee
#32. In 1964, I tried to convince my grandfather, who was active in the New York City firefighters union, to vote for Barry Goldwater over Lyndon Johnson because at the time I thought his approach to limited government was right on.
Joe Lhota
#33. There are 100 different doors to come into the conservative movement. You can disagree with 99 of them, as long as you agree on one: more-limited government.
Grover Norquist
#34. Well, I'm a libertarian conservative, so I believe in limited government/maximum individual freedom.
John Bolton
#35. I stand for limited government, fiscal responsibility, personal freedom, personal responsibility, so the Republican Party will support me.
Rick Scott
#36. It's easier to sell cotton candy than it is to sell broccoli to somebody, but the broccoli is better for you, and the same thing with a limited government.
Marco Rubio
#37. I represent what I think is a traditional Republican ... a limited government, fiscal responsibility, strong national defense, individual freedom and liberty.
Olympia Snowe
#38. Both Republicans and Democrats can agree that more choices and lower prices in transportation would benefit consumers. Democrats would consider it 'smart government' and Republicans 'limited government.'
Marvin Ammori
#39. It's time to take Economics 101 to Washington. We believe in liberty, we believe in limited government, we believe in free enterprise, we believe in family values and the sanctity of human life, and we all believe Washington needs a good dose of Economics 101.
Kurt Bills
#41. Republicans should simply focus on first principles and give the American people what they want - an honest party dedicated to common sense, fiscal responsibility and limited government. If we govern to save the country, we'll do well as a party.
Tom Coburn
#42. A disturbing prospect looms before us as Americans consider the possibility of a second term for President Barack Obama. Millions of conservatives who revere the Constitution, with its guarantees of freedom and limited government, have watched with alarm as the campaign season has unfolded.
James Dobson
#43. Free enterprise, individual opportunity, limited government. They made America great; only they can keep America strong.
Reince Priebus
#44. I am fighting vigorously for less spending, less waste and limited government. I strongly believe that the more government grows, the less freedom Americans have.
Ed Royce
#45. Limited government, low taxes, controlled spending and debt, and a restrained regulatory environment make Texas work.
Mark McKinnon
#46. One thing is certain: those who worked and voted for less government, the very foot soldiers in the conservative revolution, have been deceived. Today, the ideal of limited government has been abandoned by the GOP, and real conservatives find their views no longer matter.
Ron Paul
#47. People in Eastern Washington should be confident in knowing that the government will not come and seize their property or farm land. Legislation is needed to correct this decision and restore the principle of having limited government involvement.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers
#48. Americans chose a limited government that exists to protect our rights, not to grant them.
Marco Rubio
#49. I'm an American. I'm for prosperity. I've discovered, from 40 years of reporting, that what creates prosperity is limited government.
John Stossel
#50. They're lots of good Americans here in New York who have common sense and who believe in free markets and free people and limited government under our Constitution. Those are the principles I've always stood for. I know they're right, and that's what I'm going to stand for.
Wendy E. Long
#51. The New Deal is inconsistent with the principles of limited government and with the constitutional provisions designed to secure that end.
Richard Allen Epstein
#52. While an equality of rights under a limited government is possible and an essential condition of individual freedom, a claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.
Friedrich Hayek
#53. The American nuclear family made America great, but few are now defending it against forces determined to destroy it. If America continues to have many immigrants with different family types, we are less likely to maintain American values of personal freedom, individualism, and limited government.
Phyllis Schlafly
#54. As a political independent, I would gladly vote for any political party dedicated to limited government and entrepreneurship.
Arthur C. Brooks
#55. Our funding is based on our support of ideas like limited government, individual rights and a strong defense.
Richard Scaife
#56. If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare ... they may appoint teachers in every state ... The powers of Congress would subvert the very foundation, the very nature of the limited government established by the people of America.
James Madison
#57. Team Obama is exploiting the power of high government office to intimidate lawful, peaceful contributors who support limited-government causes.
Michelle Malkin
#58. The American people deserve a blueprint for policymaking that is built upon the Constitution of the United States and the principles of fiscal discipline, limited government, accountability, and a strong national defense.
Jason Chaffetz
#59. You know, Republicans should have a consistent philosophy. And if your philosophy is about limited government and not intruding in people's lives, you shouldn't just inconveniently take a social issue like gay marriage and say, 'Well, unless we think - actually we should be intruding your life.'
Mark McKinnon
#60. The Democrats' agenda isn't working for women. Their vision has produced big government and limited opportunity. Our vision is for limited government and opportunity for all. Women deserve better than what President Obama has delivered.
Reince Priebus
#61. Government of limited power need not be anemic government. Assurance that rights are secure tends to diminish fear and jealousy of strong government, and by making us feel safe to live under it makes for its better support.
Robert H. Jackson
#62. A laconic Texas lawmaker declined to use his considerable influence to intervene in a loud dispute between his colleagues. When asked why not, he said, They're not voting. If they're not voting, they're not passing any laws. If they're not passing any laws, they're not hurting anybody.
Robert A. Caro
#63. The vitriol and viciousness is the inevitable result of a government increasingly deciding the vital aspects of people's lives.
A.E. Samaan
#64. Siddhartha's priority was to get down to the root of the problem. Buddhism is not culturally bound. Its benefits are not limited to any particular society and have no place in government and politics. Siddhartha
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse
#65. Income taxes are responsible for the transformation of the Federal government from one of limited powers into a vast leviathan whose tentacles reach into almost every aspect of American life.
Ron Paul
#66. At the end of the day, perhaps the best argument against capital punishment may be that it is an issue beyond the limited capacity of government to get things right.
Scott Turow
#67. In time of peace there can, at all events, be no justification for the creation of a permanent debt by the Federal Government. Its limited range of constitutional duties may certainly under such circumstances be performed without such a resort.
Martin Van Buren
#69. If political authority is not limited, the division of powers, ordinarily the guarantee of freedom, becomes a danger and a scourge.
Benjamin Constant
#70. My father was a teacher, and there were teachers all around, his friends, they were working for the Government and their behaviour was within strictly limited areas.
C.L.R. James
#71. Government regulations had limited fabric lengths, banished pleats, and forbade having more than one pocket. Men now had a slim trim in the pant legs and women looked more military - gray flannel suits, low-heeled shoes in polished fake leather, shoulder-strap bags, berets and felt cloche hats.
Gregory Benford
#72. Water is the most precious, limited natural resource we have in this country ... But because water belongs to no one - except the people - special interests, including government polluters, use it as their private sewers.
Ralph Nader
#73. My concept of government's role in people's lives is that it is limited but legitimate, and essential when people have nowhere else to turn.
Olympia Snowe
#74. On some level, there's a limit to what the government really worries about when it comes to a guy like Ai Weiwei, who's talking to a limited audience of people. He's talking to people who more or less already agree with him.
Evan Osnos
#75. The powers of the federal government are enumerated; it can only operate in certain cases; it has legislative powers on defined and limited objects, beyond which it cannot extend its jurisdiction.
James Madison
#76. No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words "no" and "not" employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
Edmund A. Opitz
#77. Every unnecessary law helps fashion the noose we will ultimately be hung by.
A.E. Samaan
#78. Most enlightened men now recognize that General Jackson is not fitted to fill the office of President; his limited experience of anything to do with civil government and his great age make him incompetent.
Jared Sparks
#79. What makes America great was a government that was founded to be limited to doing one thing. I really believe the whole purpose of America, the aspirational value - why everybody who wants to come to this country wants to come here - was because we respected the dignity of every living person.
Rick Santorum
#80. The Founding Fathers envisioned a federal government that trusts its people with their money and freedom, outlining this limited, non-intrusive federal government in ... the Constitution, leaving the other powers to people ... or to the states.
Milton Friedman
#81. It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.
Alexander Hamilton
#82. Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back- government has no place in the middle.
Mark Kirk
#83. The whole Jeffersonian ideal was that people are temporarily in government. Government is not the basic reality. People are. The private sector. And government is just a limited power to make things go better.
Jerry Brown
#84. We should have a very limited federal government.
Paul Broun
#85. Democratic elections alone do not remedy the crisis of confidence in government. Moreover, there is no viable justification for a democratic system in which public participation is limited to voting.
Beth Simone Noveck
#86. Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy, and not confidence, which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power.
Thomas Jefferson
#87. The product of scientific achievements should be for sale. The scientist should not.
A.E. Samaan
#88. The Iranian leaders describe the American government exactly the way American analysts describe the Iranian one, as an opaque, factionalized system with competing power centers, over which the president exercises very limited authority.
Ali Khamenei
#89. If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one ...
James Madison
#90. The United States is at a critical juncture in time. Our government is riddled with historic debt, and the limited resources of philanthropic and non-profit efforts cannot meet the scale of social challenges we face with necessary force.
Simon Mainwaring
#91. If Congress can regulate this under the Commerce Clause, then it can regulate virtually anything-and the Federal Government is no longer one of limited and enumerated powers.
Clarence Thomas
#92. Federalism is the best curb on democracy. [It] assigns limited powers to the central government. Thereby all power is limited. It excludes absolute power of the majority.
Lord Acton
#93. But the Spirit was not limited to doing surprising and extraordinary things. He was present in the Old Testament period in giving civil rule and government ... moral virtues ... physical strength ... and intellectual abilities.
John Owen
#94. Politicians are interested in the health of the people like predators savor live prey.
A.E. Samaan
#95. We have a government of limited power under the Constitution, and we have got to work out our problems on the basis of law.
William Howard Taft
#96. There are some who think that the government is limited in how many corruption cases it can bring against Wall Street, because juries can't understand the complexity of the financial schemes involved. But in 'U.S.A. v. Carollo,' that turned out not to be true.
Matt Taibbi
#97. For the next century, the Republicans have agreed that we will promote the dignity and future of every individual by building a free society under a limited, accountable government that protects liberty, security and prosperity for a brighter American dream.
Todd Tiahrt
#98. The government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of action, and its laws, when made in pursuance of the constitution, form the supreme law of the land.
John Marshall
#99. It is time we passed a balanced budget amendment and return this government to limited spending.
Newt Gingrich
#100. The conservative movement is about government playing its important yet limited role, and about not falling into the trap of believing that every problem has an exclusive government answer for it.
Marco Rubio
