Government Quotes by Edward Abbey

All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?

— Edward Abbey

All governments require enemy governments.

— Edward Abbey

“The gross evil of our time defies all labels.”

— Edward Abbey

All forms of government are pernicious, including good government.

— Edward Abbey

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.

— Edward Abbey

As war and government prove, insanity is the most contagious of diseases.

— Edward Abbey

The purpose and function of government is not to preside over change but to prevent change. By political methods when unavoidable, by…

— Edward Abbey

Nearly all of Latin America, from Chile to Mexico, is one long rack of torture. Financed, equipped, and refined by the U.S.…

— Edward Abbey

Say what you like about my bloody murderous government,' I says, 'but don't insult me poor bleedin' country.

— Edward Abbey

When guns are outlawed, only the Government will have guns. The Government - and a few outlaws. If that happens, you can…

— Edward Abbey

Terrorism: deadly violence against humans and other living things, usually conducted by government against its own people.

— Edward Abbey

No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets.

— Edward Abbey

Government should be weak, amateurish and ridiculous. At present, it fulfills only a third of the role.

— Edward Abbey

War: First day in the U.S. Army, the government placed a Bible in my left hand, a bayonet in the other.

— Edward Abbey

“In this respect the differences between the USA and the USSR are those of evangelical dinosaurs competing for domination on one small…

— Edward Abbey

Representative government has broken down. Our politicians represent not the people who vote for them but the commercial interests who finance their…

— Edward Abbey

The moral duty of the free writer is to begin his work at home: to be a critic of his own community,…

— Edward Abbey

Government: If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will…

— Edward Abbey

A true libertarian supports free enterprise, opposes big business; supports local self-government, opposes the nation-state; supports the National Rifle Association, opposes the…

— Edward Abbey

The national parks belong to everyone. To the people. To all of us. The government keeps saying so and maybe, in this…

— Edward Abbey

In the Soviet Union, government controls industry. In the United States, industry controls government. That is the principal structural difference between the…

— Edward Abbey

Let us hope our weapons are never needed - but do not forget what the common people of this nation knew when…

— Edward Abbey

At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the…

— Edward Abbey

I'm happy to respect authority when it's genuine authority, based on moral or intellectual or even technical superiority. I'm eager to follow…

— Edward Abbey

“I doubt that my sense of personal freedom is any stronger than anybody else's. I'm happy to respect authority when it's genuine…

— Edward Abbey

Let us hope our weapons are never needed -but do not forget what the common people knew when they demanded the Bill…

— Edward Abbey