All government is an ugly necessity.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Government is necessary but inherently flawed and unpleasant.
- In plain terms
- We need government but it is always ugly.
- What can you take from it?
- Accept government as a necessary evil.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can government ever be good?
- Why is it a necessity?
Another view
Some governments function well and are not ugly.
More from Gilbert Keith Chesterton
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it.
Permalink to quote #30 When a politician is in opposition he is an expert on the means to some end; and when he is in office he is an expert on the obstacles to it.
Permalink to quote #32 The rich are the scum of the earth in every country.
Permalink to quote #29
Related quotes
Unfortunately, you can't vote the rascals out, because you never voted them in, in the first place.
Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky quote #1 Kings govern by means of popular assemblies only when they cannot do without them.
Charles James FoxCharles James Fox quote #1 Every power vested in a government is in its nature sovereign, and includes by force of the term a right to employ all the means requisite...to the attainment …
Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton quote #5