--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Between government in the republican…" description: "\"Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other han..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/garet-garrett-20447_choices_between-government-in-the-republican-mea_1615304.png" --- # Between government in the republican meaning, that is… ![“Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is mortal enmity. Either one must forbid the other or one will destroy the other. That we know. Yet never has the choice been put to a…” quote by Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/garet-garrett-20447_choices_between-government-in-the-republican-mea_1615304.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/garet-garrett-20447_choices_between-government-in-the-republican-mea_1615304.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/615/garet-garrett-20447_choices_between-government-in-the-republican-mea_1615304.png) > “Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is mortal enmity. Either one must forbid the other or one will destroy the other. That we know. Yet never has the choice been put to a vote of the people.” [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A warning that unchecked power and overreaching authority are mutually destructive, demanding a choice between limited constitutional government and imperial domination. **In simple terms:** Limited government vs empire are incompatible; one must prevail. Key Takeaway Choose and government over empire. Themes politics government power freedom Mood concerned serious Type political warning When to use this quote - voting on constitutional reforms - public debates on foreign policy - civic education - activism Key Concepts constitutionalism imperialism mutual destruction Questions to Reflect On - What safeguards can prevent empire-like overreach? - How can citizens effectively choose? A Different Perspective Choosing one may ignore nuanced middle paths or hybrid systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Enmity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enmity/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Republican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-republican-240277/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Limited government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limited-government/) [Meaning Constitutional](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-constitutional-1671064/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Republican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republican/) [Republican Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republican-meaning-1671063/) [Vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote/) ## Related quotes > [Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/between-government-in-the-republican-meaning-that-is-constitutional/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [No good government but what is republican... the very definition of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/no-good-government-but-what-is-republican-the-very-definition-of-a/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [“Therefore, judges have to reach beyond the apparently impenetrable sphere of meaning by adopting the strategy of unravelling meaning in the constitutional text. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/therefore-judges-have-to-reach-beyond-the-apparently-impenetrable/) [Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-asok-kumar-ganguly/) > [It is a misnomer to call a government republican in which a branch of the supreme power is independent of the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-a-misnomer-to-call-a-government-republican-in-which-a-branch-of/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [A government is republican in proportion as every member composing it has his equal voice in the direction of its concerns, not indeed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/a-government-is-republican-in-proportion-as-every-member-composing-it/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Here, again, as I conceive, gentlemen forget that this government is a republican one, resting exclusively in the intelligence and virtue of the People.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caleb-cushing/here-again-as-i-conceive-gentlemen-forget-that-this-government-is-a/) [Caleb Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caleb-cushing/) > [The New Deal's enmity for that system of free and competitive private enterprise which we call capitalism was fundamental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/the-new-deal-s-enmity-for-that-system-of-free-and-competitive-private/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [I trust that the proposed Constitution afford a genuine specimen of representative government and republican government; and that it will answer, in an eminent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-hamilton/i-trust-that-the-proposed-constitution-afford-a-genuine-specimen-of/) [Alexander Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-hamilton/) > [There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-are-three-species-of-government-republican-monarchical-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There is no good government but what is republican. That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so; for the true idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/there-is-no-good-government-but-what-is-republican-that-the-only/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Since 1981, when President Ronald Reagan took office promising to scale back the federal government, Republican leaders have promised to cut regulation and taxes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-cox-richardson/since-1981-when-president-ronald-reagan-took-office-promising-to/) [Heather Cox Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-cox-richardson/) > [The New Deals enmity for that system of free and competitive private enterprise which we call capitalism was fundamental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/the-new-deals-enmity-for-that-system-of-free-and-competitive-private/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [While we may argue about the size of government, the Republican Party has not been a party that says, 'I want to destroy government.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-pelosi/while-we-may-argue-about-the-size-of-government-the-republican-party/) [Nancy Pelosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-pelosi/) > [ \[T\]he Christian religion, in its purity, is the basis, or rather the source of all genuine freedom in government. . . . and I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-webster/t-he-christian-religion-in-its-purity-is-the-basis-or-rather-the/) [Noah Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noah-webster/) > [“Why, how can you ask such a question? You are a republican." A republican! Yes; but that word specifies nothing. Res publica; that is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-joseph-proudhon/why-how-can-you-ask-such-a-question-you-are-a-republican-a-republican/) [Pierre-Joseph Proudhon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-joseph-proudhon/) ## More by Garet Garrett > [The spectacle of a great, solvent government paying a fictitious price for gold it did not want and did not need and doing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/the-spectacle-of-a-great-solvent-government-paying-a-fictitious-price/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [If you put a ten dollar bill under the rug instead of spending it, that is capital formation. It represents ten dollars' worth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/if-you-put-a-ten-dollar-bill-under-the-rug-instead-of-spending-it/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [There is in government a living impulse to extend itself indefinitely; and there is in freedom a necessity to resist that impulse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/there-is-in-government-a-living-impulse-to-extend-itself-indefinitely/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Revolution in the modern case is no longer an uncouth business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/revolution-in-the-modern-case-is-no-longer-an-uncouth-business/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Government is the natural enemy of freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/government-is-the-natural-enemy-of-freedom/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [If the great Government of the United States were a private corporation no bank would take its name on a piece of paper, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/if-the-great-government-of-the-united-states-were-a-private/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [With no notice to the American people...this country entered the war...Stranger than the fact was the passive acceptance of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/with-no-notice-to-the-american-people-this-country-entered-the-war/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [This is the problem for which revolutionary theory has yet to find the right solution, if there is one. The difficulty is that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/this-is-the-problem-for-which-revolutionary-theory-has-yet-to-find/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [There is a long history of monetary experience. It tells us that government is at heart a counterfeiter and therefore cannot be trusted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/there-is-a-long-history-of-monetary-experience-it-tells-us-that/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/between-government-in-the-republican-meaning-that-is-constitutional/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Loyalty of the law-making power to the executive power was one of the dangers the political fathers foretold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/loyalty-of-the-law-making-power-to-the-executive-power-was-one-of-the/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [The New Deals enmity for that system of free and competitive private enterprise which we call capitalism was fundamental.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/the-new-deals-enmity-for-that-system-of-free-and-competitive-private/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [Well, where there is freedom doubt itself must be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/well-where-there-is-freedom-doubt-itself-must-be-free/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [If people cannot limit government they will not for long be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/if-people-cannot-limit-government-they-will-not-for-long-be-free/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) > [No government can provide social security. It is not in the nature of government to be able to provide anything. Government itself is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garet-garrett/no-government-can-provide-social-security-it-is-not-in-the-nature-of/) [Garet Garrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) [Explore all 31 Garet Garrett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garet-garrett/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. I want to entertain, but I also want to say something to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-prince-bythewood/movies-have-power-power-to-impact-society-and-the-choices-we-make-i/) [Gina Prince-Bythewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-prince-bythewood/) > [If you have a different mindset, you will have a different outcome: if you make different choices from your peers, your life will then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-ma/if-you-have-a-different-mindset-you-will-have-a-different-outcome-if/) [Jack Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-ma/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [Clarissa," he said, "here with the vampire, I see. When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Between government in the republican meaning, that is, Constitutional, representative, limited government, on the one hand, and Empire on the other hand, there is mortal enmity. 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