Quote by Wendell Phillips

To hear some men talk of the government, you would suppose that Congress was the law of gravitation, and kept the planets in their places.

To hear some men talk of the government, you would suppose t

Summary

This quote is a satirical commentary on how some individuals exaggerate the importance and power of the government, particularly Congress. The speaker implies that there are people who view the government as an all-powerful entity, attributing extraordinary abilities to it, like how the law of gravitation holds celestial bodies in their orbits. By using this metaphor, the quote highlights the tendency of certain individuals to overly glorify the government's capabilities, possibly to justify or rationalize its significance in their lives.

Topics

Government

By Wendell Phillips

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of p

Without general elections, without unrestricted freedom of press and assembly, without a free struggle of opinion, life dies out in every public institution, becomes a mere semblance of life, in which only the bureaucracy remains as the active element. Public life gradually falls asleep, a few dozen party leaders of inexhaustible energy and boundless experience direct and rule. Such conditions must inevitably cause a brutalization of public life: attempted assassinations, shootings of hostages, etc.

Tyranny

We are in this business, whether it be intelligence or the g

We are in this business, whether it be intelligence or the government, to protect freedom, democracy and liberty, not to violate that.

John O. Brennan

Intelligence

The never-ending task of self improvement.

The never-ending task of self improvement.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Progress

No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, li

No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance.

William Henry Davies

Time Beauty Dance Thetimes

I don't find acting to be a particularly noble way to make a

I don't find acting to be a particularly noble way to make a living. I'm not saving anybody's life, I'm not a teacher, I'm not working for UNICEF. I don't think I'm some big deal.

Teacher

You'd like more people to recognise what you do is special.

You'd like more people to recognise what you do is special. But I take the attitude that the best thing I can do for my sport is to be the best at it. The best way people will come to recognise that track and field is a great sport is to see athletes excelling at it. Which is what I intend to do.

Attitude

Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but i

Right discipline consists, not in external compulsion, but in the habits of mind which lead spontaneously to desirable rather than undesirable activities.

Bertrand Russell

Discipline Rights Mind

We are apt to forget that children watch examples better tha

We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching.

Parenting

Indifference is harder to fight than hostility, and there is

Indifference is harder to fight than hostility, and there is nothing that kills an agitation like having everybody admit that it is fundamentally right.

Crystal Eastman, "Time and Tide"

Apathy

The thing about stand-up was, I was doing all this sketch an

The thing about stand-up was, I was doing all this sketch and YouTube stuff where I was not being censored and I got to do my own thing, and it was really cool.

Cool

We always think every other man's job is easier than our own

We always think every other man's job is easier than our own. The better he does it, the easier it looks.

Eden Phillpotts

Illusion

I think we have to be careful about what we label as a prere

I think we have to be careful about what we label as a prerequisite for spirituality. I don't think you have to know a lot to have a spiritual life, but knowing gives life richness.

Olympia Dukakis

Life