It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
There is no right government except good government.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Good government is the only acceptable form of governance.
George Santayana emphasizes that the quality of governance determines its legitimacy. A government is only deemed right if it functions well for the benefit of its people, highlighting the importance of good leadership and effective governance in society.
Themes
GovernmentGood GovernanceLeadershipPoliticsQuality
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of effective governance.
More from George Santayana
All quotes βThe working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
George SantayanaRead
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
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Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
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To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
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The invasion of Iraq, particularly, gave a big shot in the arm to the jihadi extremists.
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The danger to the country, to Europe, to her vast Empire, which is involved in having all these great interests entrusted to the shaking hand of an old, wild, and incomprehensible man of 82, is very great!
Queen VictoriaRead