Loyalty means nothing unless it has at its heart the absolute principle of self-sacrifice.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Liberty has never come from Government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of governmental power, not the increase of it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True liberty is achieved through limiting government power, not expanding it.
Woodrow Wilson's quote emphasizes that liberty is not bestowed by governments, but rather arises from the actions and limitations placed upon governmental authority by the people. It suggests that true freedom is attained when the power of the government is restrained, highlighting a historical perspective that views the struggle for liberty as one of reducing governmental influence rather than increasing it.
Themes
LibertyGovernmentPowerFreedomHistory
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about individual rights versus governmental control, this quote could underscore the argument for limiting government power.
More from Woodrow Wilson
All quotes →Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed against him must be battered down. Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.
Woodrow WilsonRead
The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the concentration of power, we are resisting the processes of death, because concentration of power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties.
Woodrow WilsonRead
We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers.
Woodrow WilsonRead
The way to stop financial joyriding is to arrest the chauffeur, not the automobile.
Woodrow WilsonRead
Once lead this people into war, and they'll forget there ever was such a thing as tolerance. To fight, you must be brutal and ruthless, and the spirit of ruthless brutality will enter into the very fiber of our national life, infecting Congress, the courts, the policeman on the beat, the man in the street.
Woodrow WilsonRead
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