---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My father always said that government is…"
description: "\"“My father always said that government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better but it certainly isn't you.”\" — Orson Scott..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png"
---

#  My father always said that government is like watching…

![“My father always said that government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better but it certainly isn't you.” quote by Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png)

> ““My father always said that government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better but it certainly isn't you.””

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Government is portrayed as an invasive, uncomfortable presence that offers a fleeting sense of relief but ultimately benefits no one.

**In simple terms:** Government feels invasive and offers false comfort.

Key Takeaway

Question authority and seek true autonomy.

Themes

politics authority individualism

Mood

skeptical critical

Type

political satirical

When to use this quote

- voting
- activism
- community organizing
- personal decision making

Key Concepts

social contract power dynamics personal liberty

Questions to Reflect On

- How does this view affect civic engagement?
- What alternatives to government exist?

A Different Perspective

The metaphor may oversimplify complex governance benefits.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Fantasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantasy/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Humor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humor/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/)

## Related quotes

> [ They \[Christian rednecks\] were so stupid that they couldn't pour piss out of a boot even if the instructions were printed on the bottom. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-bageant/they-christian-rednecks-were-so-stupid-that-they-couldn-t-pour-piss/)

[Joe Bageant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-bageant/)

> [The Organization of American States couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/the-organization-of-american-states-couldn-t-pour-piss-out-of-a-boot/)

[Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/)

> [I said to myself, "If the government thinks I'm an artist, I must be one."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-ligon/i-said-to-myself-if-the-government-thinks-i-m-an-artist-i-must-be-one/)

[Glenn Ligon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-ligon/)

> [It is said that government is a necessary evil, but it is far more evil than it is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/it-is-said-that-government-is-a-necessary-evil-but-it-is-far-more/)

[James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/)

> [“If man can't piss in his own front yard, then he's living too close to town!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-russell/if-man-can-t-piss-in-his-own-front-yard-then-he-s-living-too-close-to/)

Tom Russell

> [If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldnt do it. I hate him and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-harrison/if-that-man-was-on-fire-and-i-had-to-piss-to-put-him-out-i-wouldnt-do/)

[James Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-harrison/)

> [“I got no use for a man piss backwards on his friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-got-no-use-for-a-man-piss-backwards-on-his-friends/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [One man's piss-soaked sadomasochistic orgy is another man's poetic ecstasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-savage/one-man-s-piss-soaked-sadomasochistic-orgy-is-another-man-s-poetic/)

[Dan Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-savage/)

> [The Christian in me says it's wrong, but the corrections officer in me says, 'I love to make a grown man piss himself.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-graner/the-christian-in-me-says-it-s-wrong-but-the-corrections-officer-in-me/)

Charles Graner

> [it was all your genes that made us geniuses, mom. said peter. we sure didn't get any from dad. i heard that. father said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/it-was-all-your-genes-that-made-us-geniuses-mom-said-peter-we-sure/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“How many times are you two going to have to save me from myself before this whole drama runs its course?” asked Peter. “I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/how-many-times-are-you-two-going-to-have-to-save-me-from-myself/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“I saw what Andrew did in our family. I saw that he came in and listened and watched and understood who we were, each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-saw-what-andrew-did-in-our-family-i-saw-that-he-came-in-and/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Some people say that watching pay freezes in the government is like watching water freeze. It expands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrell-issa/some-people-say-that-watching-pay-freezes-in-the-government-is-like/)

[Darrell Issa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrell-issa/)

> [“When a country goes to war, men can no longer operate free and open laboratories. The Government would like to know what you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-hunt/when-a-country-goes-to-war-men-can-no-longer-operate-free-and-open/)

[Samantha Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samantha-hunt/)

> [In a government like ours, the Crown is the abiding and unshakable element in government; politicians may come and go, but the Crown remains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/in-a-government-like-ours-the-crown-is-the-abiding-and-unshakable/)

[Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/)

## More by Orson Scott Card

> [“You underestimate yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/you-underestimate-yourself/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-think-that-most-of-us-anyway-read-these-stories-that-we-know-are/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Why did he hesitate? He finally admitted to himself that he was like an American child who was almost completely certain about Santa Claus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/why-did-he-hesitate-he-finally-admitted-to-himself-that-he-was-like/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“I don't know of a soul who doesn't maintain two separate lists of doctrines - the ones they believe they believe; and the ones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/i-don-t-know-of-a-soul-who-doesn-t-maintain-two-separate-lists-of/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Good people do not let others suffer needlessly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/good-people-do-not-let-others-suffer-needlessly/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“The devil?” Jason heaved the tick over his shoulder like a collier with his sack. “Satan. The adversary. The enemy of the plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/the-devil-jason-heaved-the-tick-over-his-shoulder-like-a-collier-with/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“What we've done is make the categories of science fiction and fantasy larger, freer, and more inclusive than any other genre of contemporary literature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/what-we-ve-done-is-make-the-categories-of-science-fiction-and-fantasy/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Where ideas are real and reality is shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-ideas-are-real-and-reality-is-shadow/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Ender, for the past few months you have been the battle commander of our fleets. This was the Third Invasion. There were no games,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/ender-for-the-past-few-months-you-have-been-the-battle-commander-of/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Science fiction is about what could be but isn't; fantasy is about what couldn't be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/science-fiction-is-about-what-could-be-but-isn-t-fantasy-is-about/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [Knowledge is just opinion that you trust enough to act upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/knowledge-is-just-opinion-that-you-trust-enough-to-act-upon/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Of course they accused Marcão of having done it without provocation—that’s the way of torturers of every age, to put the blame on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/of-course-they-accused-marc-o-of-having-done-it-without-provocation/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Civilization is only a pretense; in the crisis, we become mere apes again, forgetting the rational biped of our pretensions and becoming instead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/civilization-is-only-a-pretense-in-the-crisis-we-become-mere-apes/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

> [“Where did this whole thing begin? If what we think of as reality is just a pattern that somebody brought Outside, and the universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/where-did-this-whole-thing-begin-if-what-we-think-of-as-reality-is/)

[Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

[Explore all 1,158 Orson Scott Card quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/)

## More Another man quotes

> [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then \[these?\],… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in-england-in-1624-and-in-this/)

[Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/)

> [“I took ten days off and by 11 o’clock on the first morning I had drunk fourteen cups of coffee, read all the newspapers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/i-took-ten-days-off-and-by-11-o-clock-on-the-first-morning-i-had/)

[Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/)

> [One day I woke up and Juventus wanted me, another Manchester United and what I know is that there were approaches made. But an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raul-jimenez/one-day-i-woke-up-and-juventus-wanted-me-another-manchester-united/)

[Raul Jimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raul-jimenez/)

> [“He often remembered his dad's admonition that envy was mental theft. If you coveted another man's possessions, Dad said, then you should be willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/he-often-remembered-his-dad-s-admonition-that-envy-was-mental-theft/)

[Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/)

> [Never break another man's rice bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/never-break-another-man-s-rice-bowl/)

[Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/)

> [“One theory on cannibals, of course, is that they eat parts of their slain enemies to benefit from that person's greatest assets - their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-powell/one-theory-on-cannibals-of-course-is-that-they-eat-parts-of-their/)

[Julie Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-powell/)

> [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“If you aren't in love, Willow Vaughn, then my name isn't Miriam Brigham." Willow started out of her daydreaming and glanced up from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-mcpherren/if-you-aren-t-in-love-willow-vaughn-then-my-name-isn-t-miriam-brigham/)

[Charlotte McPherren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-mcpherren/)

> [“One man accomplishment Is another mans failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-sargent/one-man-accomplishment-is-another-mans-failure/)

Anthony Sargent

> [“Hell, I bet there's another man right now on the other side of this planet, standing in the pouring rain, fighting desperately for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/el-montes/hell-i-bet-there-s-another-man-right-now-on-the-other-side-of-this/)

EL Montes

> [The perception of what we as professors provide has changed. Constant and demanding e-mails are just another manifestation of what our society has become.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-payne/the-perception-of-what-we-as-professors-provide-has-changed-constant/)

[Dan Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-payne/)

> [Fighting, to me, seems barbaric. I don't really like it. I enjoy out-thinking another man and out-maneuvering him, but I still don't like to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sugar-ray-robinson/fighting-to-me-seems-barbaric-i-don-t-really-like-it-i-enjoy-out/)

[Sugar Ray Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sugar-ray-robinson/)

> [The single greatest pleasure that I have in doing ('Bizarre Foods') is when I meet families with 6, 7, 8-year-olds, or teenagers, who say,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-zimmern/the-single-greatest-pleasure-that-i-have-in-doing-bizarre-foods-is/)

[Andrew Zimmern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-zimmern/)

> [One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-marshall-harlan-ii/one-man-s-vulgarity-is-another-man-s-lyric/)

[John Marshall Harlan II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-marshall-harlan-ii/)

> [“that of dealing death, of loosing another man’s soul and sending it down to hell. You want to savor it, to twist the blade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/that-of-dealing-death-of-loosing-another-man-s-soul-and-sending-it/)

[Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/)

Browse all 1,112 Another man quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“My father always said that government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better but it certainly isn't you.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Orson Scott Card"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/my-father-always-said-that-government-is-like-watching-another-man/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Another man"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/my-father-always-said-that-government-is-like-watching-another-man/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a27/orson-scott-card-134_another-man_my-father-always-said-that-government-is_1865623.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“My father always said that government is like watching another man piss in your boot. Someone feels better…” — Orson Scott Card",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Orson Scott Card",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“My father always said that government...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/my-father-always-said-that-government-is-like-watching-another-man/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/my-father-always-said-that-government-is-like-watching-another-man/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
