1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981)
Context: We are a nation that has a government — not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our Government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.
It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people. All of us need to be reminded that the Federal Government did not create the States; the States created the Federal Government.
Now, so there will be no misunderstanding, it is not my intention to do away with government. It is, rather, to make it work-work with us, not over us; to stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.
“People in and around government sense a national mood.”
Source: Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies - (Second Edition), Chapter 7, The Political Stream, p. 146
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John W. Kingdon 22
American political scientist 1940Related quotes
“That which is around me does not affect my mood; my mood affects that which is around me.”
Source: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Source: "‘Squid Game’ star HoYeon Jung gains a whopping 15M Instagram followers" in New York Post https://nypost.com/2021/10/07/squid-game-star-hoyeon-jung-gains-huge-15m-instagram-followers/ (7 October 2021)
1910s, The New Nationalism (1910)
Context: I do not ask for overcentralization; but I do ask that we work in a spirit of broad and far-reaching nationalism when we work for what concerns our people as a whole. We are all Americans. Our common interests are as broad as the continent. I speak to you here in Kansas exactly as I would speak in New York or Georgia, for the most vital problems are those which affect us all alike. The national government belongs to the whole American people, and where the whole American people are interested, that interest can be guarded effectively only by the national government. The betterment which we seek must be accomplished, I believe, mainly through the national government.
Speech to the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool (28 September 1965), quoted in The Times (29 September 1965), p. 5.
Prime Minister
Source: Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies - (Second Edition), Chapter 9, Wrapping Things Up, p. 196
Speech to the Colin Brown Memorial Dinner, National Citizens Coalition, 1994.
1990s
As quoted in David Crockett : His Life and Adventures (1875) by John Stevens Cabot Abbott, p. 294
Context: I know nothing, by experience, of party discipline. I would rather be a raccoon-dog, and belong to a Negro in the forest, than to belong to any party, further than to do justice to all, and to promote the interests of my country. The time will and must come, when honesty will receive its reward, and when the people of this nation will be brought to a sense of their duty, and will pause and reflect how much it cost us to redeem ourselves from the government of one man.
Source: Give Me Liberty! (1998), Ch. 1 : We, the People, the New American Slaves, p. 8