Home / Topics / Citizens Quotes

Citizens Quotes

Browse 3821 quotes about Citizens.

Citizens Quotes

“Egotism erects its center in itself; love places it out of itself in the axis of the universal whole. Love aims at unity, egotism at solitude. Love is the citizen ruler of a flourishing republic, egotism is a despot in a devastated creation. Egotism sows for gratitude, love for the ungrateful. Love gives, egotism lends; and love does this before the throne of judicial truth, indifferent if for the enjoyment of the following moment, or with the view to a martyr's crown--indifferent whether the reward is in this life or in the next.”

Source: Philosophical Letters of Friedrich Schiller

“The gods gave me a father who ruled over me and rid me of any trace of arrogance and showed me that one can live in a palace without bodyguards, extravagant attire, chandeliers, statues, and other luxuries. He taught me that it is possible to live instead pretty much in the manner of a private citizen without losing any of the dignity and authority a ruler must possess to discharge his imperial duties effectively.”

Father Taught Duty Citizens Authority Losing Dignity Luxury Arrogance Rulers Statues Palaces Extravagant Discharge Bodyguard Attire Chandeliers

Book:The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

Source: The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

“Dear rulers ... I maintain that the civil authorities are under obligation to compel the people to send their children to school. ... If the government can compel such citizens as are fit for military service to bear spear and rifle, to mount ramparts, and perform other martial duties in time of war, how much more has it a right to compel the people to send their children to school, because in this case we are warring with the devil, whose object it is secretly to exhaust our cities and principalities of their strong men.”

People Ifs Men Children War Government School Strong Cities Cases Military Objects Duty Bears Citizens Fit Authority Devil Dear Obligation Rulers Rifles Spears Strong Man Military Service

Author:Martin Luther

“Meiklejohn's position is that free speech in a democracy is not an absolute flowing from the boundless source of some presumed 'natural right.' It is a practical necessity of 'self-government by universal suffrage,' for if the citizens are not permitted to argue out the issues of government, how can they be what they must be in a democracy - the rulers as well as the ruled?”

“The source of the government's authority is “the consent of the governed.” This means that the government is not the ruler, but the servant or agent of the citizens; it means that the government as such has no rights except the rights delegated to it by the citizens for a specific purpose.”

Mean Government Purpose Rights Source Citizens Authority Agents Servant Rulers Consent Delegation Consent Of The Governed

Book:The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

Source: The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z

“It must not be supposed that happiness will demand many or great possessions; for self-sufficiency does not depend on excessive abundance, nor does moral conduct, and it is possible to perform noble deeds even without being ruler of land and sea: one can do virtuous acts with quite moderate resources. This may be clearly observed in experience: private citizens do not seem to be less but more given to doing virtuous actions than princes and potentates. It is sufficient then if moderate resources are forthcoming; for a life of virtuous activity will be essentially a happy life.”

“When we look at the matter from another point of view, great caution would seem to be required. For the habit of lightly changing the laws is an evil, and, when the advantage is small, some errors both of lawgivers and rulers had better be left; the citizen will not gain so much by making the change as he will lose by the habit of disobedience.”

Looks Matter Seems Law Evil Left Loses Justice Views Habit Citizens Gains Advantage Errors Point Of View Rulers Caution Disobedience

Book:Politics

Source: Politics

“In proportion as the mass of citizens who possess political rights increases, and the number of elected ruler's increases, the actual power is concentrated and becomes the monopoly of a smaller and smaller group of individuals.”

Political Individual Numbers Rights Groups Citizens Mass Increase Proportion Rulers Monopoly Political Rights

Author:Paul Lafargue

“Egotism erects its center in itself; love places it out of itself in the axis of the universal whole. Love aims at unity, egotismat solitude. Love is the citizen ruler of a flourishing republic, egotism is a despot in a devastated creation.”

Love Whole Love Is Creation Self Love Citizens Solitude Universal Aim Unity Republic Rulers Egotism Flourishing Devastated Axes Despots

Author:August Wilhelm von Schlegel

“[W]hich category of crimes does the State pursue and punish most intensely? [T]hose against private citizens or those against itself? The gravest crimes in the State's lexicon are almost invariably not invasions of private person or property, but dangers to its own contentment, for example, treason, desertion of a soldier to the enemy, failure to register for the draft, subversion and subversive conspiracy, assassination of rulers and such economic crimes against the State as counterfeiting its money or evasion of its income tax.”

“For citizens who think themselves puppets in the hands of their rulers, nothing is more satisfying than having rulers as puppets in their hands.”

Thinking Hands Citizens Satisfying Rulers Puppets

Author:Pico Iyer

“I have to be real cool and not savage and radical, because it makes me angry when I think about it when I see the white boys, who are really the number one citizens, the future rulers.”

Thinking Real White Numbers Boys Citizens Angry Radical Being Real Rulers Savages Make Me Angry

Author:Muhammad Ali

“As citizens of this democracy, you are the rulers and the ruled, the law-givers and the law-abiding, the beginning and the end.”

Ends Law Democracy Citizens Rulers Citizenship Giver Abiding Active Citizenship

Author:Adlai E. Stevenson

“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.”

“Experience teaches us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent.”