--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I thought the function of the government…" description: "\"I thought the function of the government was to promote the general welfare, not to provide it.\" — Ronald Reagan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/ronald-reagan-119_function_i-thought-the-function-of-the-government_1514953.jpg" --- # I thought the function of the government was to promote… ![“I thought the function of the government was to promote the general welfare, not to provide it.” quote by Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/ronald-reagan-119_function_i-thought-the-function-of-the-government_1514953.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/ronald-reagan-119_function_i-thought-the-function-of-the-government_1514953.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8bc/ronald-reagan-119_function_i-thought-the-function-of-the-government_1514953.jpg) > “I thought the function of the government was to promote the general welfare, not to provide it.” [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Government should enable wellbeing, not directly supply it. **In simple terms:** Govt helps, doesn’t give. Key Takeaway Focus on policies that empower citizens. Themes government public welfare policy empowerment Mood thoughtful reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - public services - social programs - tax policy - community development Key Concepts liberalism social contract limited government Questions to Reflect On - How can governments balance support with autonomy? - What policies best empower individuals? A Different Perspective Implementation can be hampered by bureaucracy and political opposition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [General welfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/general-welfare/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Welfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/welfare/) ## Related quotes > [For me, liberals are people who seek to use government to promote the general welfare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-massey/for-me-liberals-are-people-who-seek-to-use-government-to-promote-the/) [Douglas Massey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-massey/) > [Outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or economically as the private sector.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/outside-of-its-legitimate-function-government-does-nothing-as-well-or/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Government must not supersede the will of the people or the responsibilities of the people. The function of government is not to confer happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/government-must-not-supersede-the-will-of-the-people-or-the/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, 'What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/public-servants-say-always-with-the-best-of-intentions-what-greater/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The basic function of the government everywhere in all times, whatever title it adopts and whatever its origin and organisation may be, is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/the-basic-function-of-the-government-everywhere-in-all-times-whatever/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [The government should promote community nurseries of mangrove species and other appropriate tree species chosen under the coastal bio-shield and agro-forestry programmes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-swaminathan/the-government-should-promote-community-nurseries-of-mangrove-species/) [M. S. Swaminathan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-swaminathan/) > [If I get elected, my government will promote a culture of acceptance and non-violence in the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/if-i-get-elected-my-government-will-promote-a-culture-of-acceptance/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [We have seen a central government promote the power of labor-union bosses, and in turn be supported by that power, until it has become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-have-seen-a-central-government-promote-the-power-of-labor-union/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [OSHA was created to regulate jobs that cause injury or illness to workers. Increasingly, though, OSHA sees its purpose as improving the general welfare…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-scalia/osha-was-created-to-regulate-jobs-that-cause-injury-or-illness-to/) [Eugene Scalia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-scalia/) > [If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare... they may appoint teachers in every state... The powers of Congress would subvert the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/if-congress-can-employ-money-indefinitely-to-the-general-welfare-they/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [I wish the government would read the Constitution. I think that would probably help quite a bit. 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O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The absence of effective State, and, especially, national, restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/the-absence-of-effective-state-and-especially-national-restraint-upon/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [The State insists that, by thus quarantining the general reading public against books not too rugged for grown men and women in order to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-frankfurter/the-state-insists-that-by-thus-quarantining-the-general-reading/) [Felix Frankfurter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-frankfurter/) > [Though liberty is established by law, we must be vigilant, for liberty to enslave us is always present under that very liberty. Our Constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/though-liberty-is-established-by-law-we-must-be-vigilant-for-liberty/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) ## More by Ronald Reagan > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [I've long believed one of the mainsprings of our own liberty has been the widespread ownership of property among our people and the expectation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/i-ve-long-believed-one-of-the-mainsprings-of-our-own-liberty-has-been/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [You know, by the time you reach my age, you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. So you learn. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/you-know-by-the-time-you-reach-my-age-you-ve-made-plenty-of-mistakes/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/yes-across-europe-this-wall-will-fall-for-it-cannot-withstand-faith/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Simple fairness dictates that government must not raise taxes on families struggling to pay their bills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/simple-fairness-dictates-that-government-must-not-raise-taxes-on/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America - our country is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-time-has-come-to-turn-to-god-and-reassert-our-trust-in-him-for/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Professional politicians like to talk about the value of experience in government. Nuts! The only experience you gain in politics is how to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/professional-politicians-like-to-talk-about-the-value-of-experience/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The WPA was one of the most productive elements of FDR's alphabet soup of agencies because it put people to work building roads, bridges,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-wpa-was-one-of-the-most-productive-elements-of-fdr-s-alphabet/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Where there's liberty, art succeeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/where-there-s-liberty-art-succeeds/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Since I came to the White House, I got two hearing aids, a colon operation, skin cancer, a prostate operation, and I was shot.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/since-i-came-to-the-white-house-i-got-two-hearing-aids-a-colon/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/a-moment-i-ve-been-dreading-george-brought-his-ne-re-do-well-son/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [On Father's Day, we pay tribute to all in our society who have taken on the responsibilitie s and joys of fatherhood. Whether our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/on-father-s-day-we-pay-tribute-to-all-in-our-society-who-have-taken/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/there-is-no-limit-to-the-amount-of-good-you-can-do-if-you-don-t-care/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [It's not that liberals aren't smart, it's just that so much of what they know isn't so](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/it-s-not-that-liberals-aren-t-smart-it-s-just-that-so-much-of-what/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [Love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/love-your-country-not-for-her-power-or-wealth-but-for-her/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) [Explore all 1,244 Ronald Reagan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) ## More Function quotes > [It is indeed a surprising and fortunate fact that nature can be expressed by relatively low-order mathematical functions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-carnap/it-is-indeed-a-surprising-and-fortunate-fact-that-nature-can-be/) [Rudolf Carnap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-carnap/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If I had to guess and put a name on it, I'd say that at some point, the drug war was as much a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/if-i-had-to-guess-and-put-a-name-on-it-i-d-say-that-at-some-point-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. 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I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [Much of what I saw in Geneva really disillusioned me about how my government functions and what its impact is in the world. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/much-of-what-i-saw-in-geneva-really-disillusioned-me-about-how-my/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Some writers say they cannot write in front of a window; many say they cannot function without almost perfect quiet. 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