Quotes on Consent Of The Governed

No man is good enough to govern another man without the other's consent.

We are a nation that has a government-not the other way around. And that makes us special among the nations of the earth.

For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.

What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of mankind.

The consent of the governed is not consent if it is not informed.

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion.

Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness] it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.