Political theory

Explore 233 quotes about Political theory

To be attached to the subdivision, to love the little platoon we belong to in society, is the first principle (the germ as it were) of public affection. It is the first link in the series by which we proceed towards a love to our country and to mankind.

Edmund Burke

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Buy Reflections on the Revolution in France at Amazon Buy Reflections on the Revolution in France at Amazon
Read Reflections on the Revolution in France at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory

Author

Edmund Burke

Source

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1790 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. Reflections on the Revolution in France. London: James Dodsley, 1790.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Reflections on the Revolution in France." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.

James Madison

More information about this quote

Topic

Threats to freedom Freedom Political theory

Speaker

James Madison

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1788 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Madison, James. "General Defense of the Constitution." Virginia Ratifying Convention. 5 June 1788, Richmond, VA, USA.

Current Citation

Madison, James. "Speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention in Defense of the Constitution, June 6, 1788." James Madison: Writings. Library of America, 1999.

Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people, who have a right... and a desire to know-but besides this they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded, and envied kind of knowledge. I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers.

John Adams

Read A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law at the National Archives website

More information about this quote

Topic

Transparency in government Preservation of freedom Freedom Political theory

Author

John Adams

Source

A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law Boston Gazette

Medium

Dissertation Newspaper

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1765 1760s 18th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Adams, John. "A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law." Boston Gazette, 30 Sept. 1765.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "A Disseratation on the Canon and Feudal Law." The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, edited by Charles Francis Adams. Vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, 2011.

How small, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure!

Oliver Goldsmith

Read The Traveller at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Activist government Government Political theory Politics The human condition

Author

Oliver Goldsmith

Source

The Traveller

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1765 1760s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Goldsmith, Oliver. The Traveller; or, a Prospect of Society. London: John Newbery, 1764.

For forms of government let fools contest;
Whate'er is best administered is best.

Alexander Pope

An Essay on Man

Buy An Essay on Man at Amazon Buy An Essay on Man at Amazon
Read An Essay on Man at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Good government Government Political theory

Author

Alexander Pope

Source

An Essay on Man

Medium

Poem

Language

English

Time

1733 1730s 18th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." London: J. Wilford, 1733, ep. 3, I. 303.

Current Citation

Pope, Alexander. "An Essay on Man." The Major Works, edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford University Press, 2009, ep. 3, l. 303.

The judicial power ought to be distinct from both the legislative and the executive, and independent upon both, that so it may be a check upon both, as both should be checks upon that.

John Adams

More information about this quote

Topic

Checks and balances Political theory American politics Politics

Author

John Adams

Source

Thoughts on Government, Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies

Medium

Pamphlet

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1776 1770s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Adams, John. Thoughts on Government, Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies. Philadelphia: John Dunlap, 1776.

Current Citation

Adams, John. "Thoughts on Government, Applicable to the Present State of the American Colonies, April 1776." John Adams: Revolutionary Writings 1775-1783, edited by Gordon S. Wood. Library of America, 2011.

A simple and a proper function of government is just to make it easy for us to do good and difficult for us to do wrong.

Jimmy Carter

More information about this quote

Topic

Role of government Political theory

Speaker

Jimmy Carter

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1976 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Carter, Jimmy. Acceptance address. Democratic National Convention. 15 July 1976, Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY, USA.

Any government is free to the people under it where the laws rule and the people are a party to those laws.

William Penn

Frame of Government

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory

Author

William Penn

Source

Frame of Government

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1682 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Penn, William. Frame of Government. 1682, preface.

As long as the love of power is a dominant passion of the human bosom, and as long as the understandings of men can be warped and their affections changed by operations upon their passions and prejudices, so long will the liberties of a people depend on their own constant attention to its preservation.

William Henry Harrison

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Safeguards of freedom Political theory

Speaker

William Henry Harrison

Source

Inaugural Address of William Henry Harrison Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1841 1840s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Harrison, William Henry. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1841, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

The relative freedom which we enjoy depends of public opinion. The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper in the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.

George Orwell

Read this essay at orwellfoundation.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Public opinion Legal theory Political theory

Author

George Orwell

Source

Freedom of the Park Tribune

Medium

Essay Newspaper

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1945 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Orwell, George. “Freedom of the Park.” Tribune, 7 Dec. 1945.

Current Citation

Orwell, George. "Freedom of the Park." The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, vol. 4: In Front of Your Nose 1945-1950, edited by Sonia Orwell and Ian Angus. David R. Godine, 1999, no. 11.

The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation.

Jeremy Bentham

More information about this quote

Topic

Utilitarianism Political theory Politics Moral theory Morality

Author

Jeremy Bentham

Source

Memoirs of Bentham The Works of Jeremy Bentham

Language

English

Time

1832 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Bentham, Jeremy. "Memoirs of Bentham." The Works of Jeremy Bentham, edited by John Bowring. Vol. 10, London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1843.

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

Thomas Paine

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory Rule of law

Author

Thomas Paine

Source

Dissertation on First Principles of Government

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1795 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Paine, Thomas. Dissertation on First Principles of Government. Paris: The English Press, 1795.

Current Citation

Paine, Thomas. "Dissertation on First Principles of Government." Rights of Man, Common Sense, and Other Political Writings, edited by Mark Philp. Oxford University Press, 2009.

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative on the day after the revolution.

Hannah Arendt

The New Yorker

Buy Reflections on Civil Disobedience at Amazon Buy Reflections on Civil Disobedience at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Revolutionaries Revolution Conservatism Political theory Politics

Author

Hannah Arendt

Source

Reflections on Civil Disobedience The New Yorker

Medium

Essay Magazine

Genre

Political literature

Statement Type

Paradox

Language

English

Time

1970 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Arendt, Hannah. "Civil Disobedience." Crises of the Republic. Vintage, 1972. Originally published as "Reflections on Civil Disobedience" by The New Yorker, 12 Sept. 1970.

History suggests only that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

Milton Friedman

Capitalism and Freedom

Buy Capitalism and Freedom at Amazon Buy Capitalism and Freedom at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory Freedom Capitalism

Author

Milton Friedman

Source

Capitalism and Freedom

Genre

Economic literature

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. University of Chicago Press, 1962, ch. 1.

Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Political theory

Speaker

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1936 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. Acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Democratic National Convention. 27 June 1936, Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

The use of force alone is but temporary. It may subdue for a moment; but it does not remove the necessity of subduing again: and a nation is not governed which is perpetually to be conquered.

On Conciliation with America

More information about this quote

Topic

Use of force Civil unrest Political theory Politics

Speaker

Edmund Burke

Source

On Conciliation with America

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1775 1770s 18th century

Era

American Revolutionary Period

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with America." House of Commons. 22 Mar. 1775, Palace of Westminster, Westminster, London, England, UK.

Current Citation

Burke, Edmund. "Speech on Conciliation with the Colonies." The Portable Edmund Burke, edited by Isaac Kramnick. Penguin, 2009.

I repeat... That all power is a trust - that we are accountable for its exercise - that, from the people, and for the people, all springs, and all must exist.

Benjamin Disraeli

More information about this quote

Topic

Political power Political leadership Citizen and state Role of government Political theory

Speaker

The Prince

Author

Benjamin Disraeli

Source

Vivian Grey

Medium

Novel

Language

English

Time

1826 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Disraeli, Benjamin. Vivian Grey. Vol. 4, London: Henry Colburn, 1826, bk. 6, ch. 7.

Gratitude, like love, is never a dependable international emotion.

Joseph Alsop

More information about this quote

Topic

International politics Political theory Politics

Author

Joseph Alsop

Source

Observer

Medium

Newspaper

Language

English

Time

1952 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Alsop, Joseph. Quoted in The Observer. 30 Nov. 1952.

Individual liberty is individual power, and as the power of a community is a mass compounded of individual powers, the nation which enjoys the most freedom must necessarily be in proportion to its numbers the most powerful nation.

John Quincy Adams

More information about this quote

Topic

Demography Political theory

Author

John Quincy Adams

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1822 1820s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Adams, John Quincy. Letter to James Lloyd. 1 Oct. 1822.

Of that freedom one may say that it is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom.

Benjamin Cardozo

Palko v. Connecticut

On freedom of thought and speech.

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Freedom of speech and expression Freedom Political theory

Author

Benjamin Cardozo

Source

Palko v. Connecticut

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1937 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Cardozo, Benjamin Nathan. United States, Supreme Court. Palko v. Connecticut. United States Reports, vol. 302, 6 Dec. 1937, pp. 319-329. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/302/319/.