--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The best government is a benevolent…" description: "\"The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.\" — Voltaire" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png" --- # The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an… ![“The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.” quote by Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png) > “The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.” [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A government that is kind but occasionally uses extreme measures can be more effective, though morally ambiguous. **In simple terms:** Benevolent tyranny uses occasional harsh actions. Key Takeaway Weigh moral costs of authoritarian control. Themes politics ethics power authority Mood critical philosophical Type political controversial When to use this quote - national security - crisis management - policy making Key Concepts utilitarianism authoritarianism morality Questions to Reflect On - Is occasional violence justified for the greater good? - What safeguards prevent power abuse? A Different Perspective Such tyranny risks abuse and loss of liberty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Assassination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassination/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Tyranny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tyranny/) ## Related quotes > [“I must admit that I feel that the best form of government is benevolent despotism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-grubb/i-must-admit-that-i-feel-that-the-best-form-of-government-is/) [Jeff Grubb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-grubb/) > [The ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-ideal-form-of-government-is-democracy-tempered-with-assassination/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/an-ideal-form-of-government-is-democracy-tempered-with-assassination/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [I loved the old government in 1861. I loved the old Constitution yet. I think it is the best government in the world, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-bedford-forrest/i-loved-the-old-government-in-1861-i-loved-the-old-constitution-yet-i/) [Nathan Bedford Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-bedford-forrest/) > [The best government is the one that charges you the least blackmail for leaving you alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-rudman-brown/the-best-government-is-the-one-that-charges-you-the-least-blackmail/) Thomas Rudman-Brown > [Which is the best government? That which teaches us to govern ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/which-is-the-best-government-that-which-teaches-us-to-govern-ourselves/) [Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Every organization of our government, the best government in the world, is crumbling to pieces. Those who have it in their hands are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigham-young/every-organization-of-our-government-the-best-government-in-the-world/) [Brigham Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brigham-young/) > [Do not adopt the best system of government, but the one most likely to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-bolivar/do-not-adopt-the-best-system-of-government-but-the-one-most-likely-to/) [Simon Bolivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-bolivar/) > [The role of government has never been to plan every detail or dictate every outcome. At its best, government has simply knocked away barriers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-role-of-government-has-never-been-to-plan-every-detail-or-dictate/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The best government in the world, the best religion, the best traditions of any people, depend upon the good or evil of the men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/the-best-government-in-the-world-the-best-religion-the-best/) [Pearl S. Buck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-s-buck/) > [The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-best-government-is-that-which-teaches-us-to-govern-ourselves/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The best government is not the one that you can serve in the longest, but the government that's closest to the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-brauchler/the-best-government-is-not-the-one-that-you-can-serve-in-the-longest/) [George Brauchler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-brauchler/) > [Lets tell young people the best books are yet to written; the best painting, the best government the best of everything is yet to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-erskine/lets-tell-young-people-the-best-books-are-yet-to-written-the-best/) [John Erskine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-erskine/) > [...open-market democratic capitalism isn't the best system of government in the world, it just works the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ringo/open-market-democratic-capitalism-isn-t-the-best-system-of-government/) [John Ringo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ringo/) > [I think that the best that government can do for you and I as individuals is to empower you and I to make decisions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-johnson/i-think-that-the-best-that-government-can-do-for-you-and-i-as/) [Gary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-johnson/) ## More by Voltaire > [In every province, the chief occupations, in order of importance, are lovemaking, malicious gossip, and talking nonsense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/in-every-province-the-chief-occupations-in-order-of-importance-are/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Fanaticism, to which men are so much inclined, has always served not only to render them more brutalized but more wicked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/fanaticism-to-which-men-are-so-much-inclined-has-always-served-not/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [History is the study of the world's crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/history-is-the-study-of-the-world-s-crime/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [We’re neither pure, nor wise, nor good; we do the best we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/we-re-neither-pure-nor-wise-nor-good-we-do-the-best-we-know/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part, the rest are lost in the multitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-with-books-as-with-men-a-very-small-number-play-a-great-part/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Meslier was the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the meteors fatal to the Christian religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/meslier-was-the-most-singular-phenomenon-ever-seen-among-all-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Being unable to make people more reasonable, I preferred to be happy away from them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/being-unable-to-make-people-more-reasonable-i-preferred-to-be-happy/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/when-his-highness-sends-a-ship-to-egypt-does-he-trouble-his-head/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Madness is to think of too many things in succession too fast, or of one thing too exclusively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/madness-is-to-think-of-too-many-things-in-succession-too-fast-or-of/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/god-gave-us-the-gift-of-life-it-is-up-to-us-to-give-ourselves-the/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/it-is-not-inequality-which-is-the-real-misfortune-it-is-dependence/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Providence has given us hope and sleep as a compensation for the many cares of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/providence-has-given-us-hope-and-sleep-as-a-compensation-for-the-many/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Men use thought only to justify their wrong doings, and employ speech only to conceal their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/men-use-thought-only-to-justify-their-wrong-doings-and-employ-speech/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/work-spares-us-from-three-evils-boredom-vice-and-need/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) [Explore all 934 Voltaire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) ## More Assassination quotes > [If it comes to a question of law, the charges they brought against me - the Espionage Act - is called the quintessential political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-it-comes-to-a-question-of-law-the-charges-they-brought-against-me/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [ We have the ability to take him \[President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez\] out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/we-have-the-ability-to-take-him-president-of-venezuela-hugo-chavez/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [“Assassination is murder with a touch more precision. Brother Sim is precise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/assassination-is-murder-with-a-touch-more-precision-brother-sim-is/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [Strange, (is it not?) that battles, martyrs, blood, even assassination should so condense - perhaps only really lastingly condense - a Nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/strange-is-it-not-that-battles-martyrs-blood-even-assassination/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [In modern day academia, secretly assassinating your peers is not necessarily performed the same way it was in king Tarquins day. The growth in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-spacey/in-modern-day-academia-secretly-assassinating-your-peers-is-not/) [Simon Spacey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-spacey/) > [The Romans have provided a lot of writers with a model for various interstellar empires, of course, and no wonder. The Roman Empire is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-leckie/the-romans-have-provided-a-lot-of-writers-with-a-model-for-various/) [Ann Leckie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-leckie/) > [We know from Talmadge Hayer, one of the men who carried out the assassination, who was shot by Ruben X as he tried to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manning-marable/we-know-from-talmadge-hayer-one-of-the-men-who-carried-out-the/) [Manning Marable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manning-marable/) > [Assassination's the fastest way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/assassination-s-the-fastest-way/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [“He also had a condition that was referred to as granulated eyelids and it caused him to blink more than usual, as if he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-hansen/he-also-had-a-condition-that-was-referred-to-as-granulated-eyelids/) [Ron Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-hansen/) > [“Hundreds of political assassinations related to minority races, labor leaders and spokesmen against fascism have taken place in the U.S. since World War II.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-brussell/hundreds-of-political-assassinations-related-to-minority-races-labor/) [Mae Brussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-brussell/) > [However, after the assassination of Salman Taseer, the killer of Salman Taseer was welcomed by the religious fanatics. And they showered rose petals on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahbaz-bhatti/however-after-the-assassination-of-salman-taseer-the-killer-of-salman/) [Shahbaz Bhatti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahbaz-bhatti/) > [There is not a single celebrated Southern name in any of the departments of human industry except those of war, assassination, lynching, murder, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-not-a-single-celebrated-southern-name-in-any-of-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I think that the implication of King's assassination has not been fully appreciated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-louis-gates/i-think-that-the-implication-of-king-s-assassination-has-not-been/) [Henry Louis Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-louis-gates/) > [The Senate has been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-chase-smith/the-senate-has-been-debased-to-the-level-of-a-forum-of-hate-and/) [Margaret Chase Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-chase-smith/) > [A deep, black grief gripped Robert Kennedy in the months following his brother's assassination. He lost weight, fell into melancholy silences, wore his brother's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurston-clarke/a-deep-black-grief-gripped-robert-kennedy-in-the-months-following-his/) Thurston Clarke [Browse all 264 Assassination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assassination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Voltaire" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyranny-tempered-by-an-occasional/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Assassination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyranny-tempered-by-an-occasional/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26f/voltaire-173_assassination_the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyra_708301.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.” — Voltaire", "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": "Voltaire", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The best government is a benevolent...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyranny-tempered-by-an-occasional/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/the-best-government-is-a-benevolent-tyranny-tempered-by-an-occasional/#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 } } ] } ```