"....Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by
the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country
free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character
inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and
it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in
its way...."


- On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
by Henry David Thoreau
[1849, original title: Resistance to Civil Government]




--
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can
prevent the government from wasting the labors of
the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
- Thomas Jefferson