“The plague of government is senile delinquency.”

—  Mignon McLaughlin

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The plague of government is senile delinquency." by Mignon McLaughlin?
Mignon McLaughlin photo
Mignon McLaughlin 278
American journalist 1913–1983

Related quotes

Dadabhai Naoroji photo

“Be united, persevere, and achieve self-Government, so that the millions now perishing by poverty, famine, and plague may be saved, and India may once more occupy her proud position of yore among the greatest and civilized nations of the world.”

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917) Indian politician

In 1906 at the age of 80 when he became president of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta.
Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji: "The Grand Old Man of India"

Adlai Stevenson photo

“The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problems of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency.”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

Vetoing a Bill that would have imposed fines on owners who allowed cats to run at large. (23 April 1949)
Context: The problem of cat versus bird is as old as time. If we attempt to resolve it by legislation who knows but what we may be called upon to take sides as well in the age old problems of dog versus cat, bird versus bird, or even bird versus worm. In my opinion, the State of Illinois and its local governing bodies already have enough to do without trying to control feline delinquency.
For these reasons, and not because I love birds the less or cats the more, I veto and withhold my approval from Senate Bill No. 93.

Charles Bukowski photo

“Are there good governments and bad governments? No, there are only bad governments and worse governments.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: The Most Beautiful Woman in Town & Other Stories

Stephen Colbert photo

“I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (2006)

Andrew Johnson photo

“Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government, and so is every State government a limited government.”

Andrew Johnson (1808–1875) American politician, 17th president of the United States (in office from 1865 to 1869)

Quote, First State of the Union Address (1865)
Context: Certainly the Government of the United States is a limited government, and so is every State government a limited government. With us this idea of limitation spreads through every form of administration — general, State, and municipal — and rests on the great distinguishing principle of the recognition of the rights of man. The ancient republics absorbed the individual in the state — prescribed his religion and controlled his activity. The American system rests on the assertion of the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to freedom of conscience, to the culture and exercise of all his faculties. As a consequence the State government is limited — as to the General Government in the interest of union, as to the individual citizen in the interest of freedom.

William Blum photo

“What undoubtedly was an even more sensitive venture was the use of chemical and biological weapons against Cuba by the United States....The full extent of American chemical and biological warfare against Cuba will never be known. Over the years, the Castro government has in fact blamed the United States for a number of other plagues which afflicted various animals and crops. And in 1977, newly-released CIA documents disclosed that the Agency "maintained a clandestine anti-crop warfare research program targeted during the 1960s at a number of countries..."”

William Blum (1933–2018) American author and historian

Killing Hope: US Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, Chapter 30. Cuba 1959 to 1980s: The unforgivable revolution

Walter Bagehot photo

“Free government is self-government. A government of the people by the people. The best government of this sort is that which the people think best.”

Walter Bagehot book The English Constitution

No. V, The House of Commons, p. 159
Cf the Gettysburg Address.
The English Constitution (1867)

Hassan Rouhani photo

“A strong government does not mean a government that interferes and intervenes in all affairs. It is not a government that limits the lives of people. This is not a strong government.”

Hassan Rouhani (1948) 7th President of Islamic Republic of Iran

Rouhani urges end to meddling in Iranians' private lives http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23161972, BBC News, (3 July, 2013)

Milton Friedman photo

“They think that the cure to big government is to have bigger government… the only effective cure is to reduce the scope of government - get government out of the business.”

Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer

Milton Friedman - Big Business, Big Government http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_T0WF-uCWg

Woodrow Wilson photo

“Administration is the most obvious part of government; it is government in action; it is the executive, the operative, the most visible side of government, and is of course as old as government itself.”

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921)

1880s, "The Study of Administration," 1887

Related topics