“I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity.”
Song lyrics, Biograph (1985), Up to Me (recorded 1974)
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Bob Dylan 523
American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist 1941Related quotes
“There is no moral authority for government other than to enforce the Universal Ethic.”
Source: The Soul of Liberty (1980), p. 103
“Its fine if the law bans books because government won't really enforce it.”
Widely reported as having been said by Kagan during the Supreme Court oral argument in the Citizens United case in September, 2009; however, this quote does not appear in the actual transcript of the oral argument http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-205[Reargued].pdf.
Misattributed
Bk. I, ch. 3.
1840s, Past and Present (1843)
[Elon Musk: The mind behind Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity ..., http://www.ted.com/talks/elon_musk_the_mind_behind_tesla_spacex_solarcity.html, 19 March 2013]
Responding to a question at his press conference (February 28, 1947); reported in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1947, p. 191
[2007-02-13, Romney formally kicks off presidential bid, MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17128433/]
2007 campaign for Republican nomination for United States President
Veto Mesage Regarding the Bank of the United States http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/ajveto01.asp (10 July 1832).
1830s
Context: It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society — the farmers, mechanics, and laborers — who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing.
http://www.gothamist.com/2007/05/29/bloombergs_memo.php
Illegal Immigration
