--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Government arrogates to itself that it…" description: "\"Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men. Everybody knows that government never began anything. It is the whole world that thinks and gov..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png" --- # Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men… ![“Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men. Everybody knows that government never began anything. It is the whole world that thinks and governs.” quote by Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png) > “Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men. Everybody knows that government never began anything. It is the whole world that thinks and governs.” [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Government claims sole authority to shape people, but collective thought truly governs. **In simple terms:** People, not just government, shape society. Key Takeaway Encourage collective responsibility and thought. Themes government authority collective intelligence democracy social responsibility Mood critical empowering Type political philosophical When to use this quote - community meetings - grassroots movements - policy making - education reform Key Concepts political theory philosophy civic engagement Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens effectively influence governance? - What limits exist for collective decision‑making? A Different Perspective Overlooking institutional power can be naive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Began](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-began-480463/) [Governs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/governs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Knows Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows-government-480465/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinks Governs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinks-governs-480464/) [Whole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Government began in tyranny and force, began in the feudalism of the soldier and bigotry of the priest; and the ideas of justice and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/government-began-in-tyranny-and-force-began-in-the-feudalism-of-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [You've got to learn to handle the press because god knows the government does all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynne-stewart/you-ve-got-to-learn-to-handle-the-press-because-god-knows-the/) [Lynne Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynne-stewart/) > [Here in America, government began as a tool to assure freedom. It gradually turned into a hideously expensive political toy designed to redistribute your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-skousen/here-in-america-government-began-as-a-tool-to-assure-freedom-it/) [Mark Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-skousen/) > [Who is fit to govern others? He who governs himself. You might as well have said: nobody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/who-is-fit-to-govern-others-he-who-governs-himself-you-might-as-well/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [How a candidate runs shapes how a president governs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-packer/how-a-candidate-runs-shapes-how-a-president-governs/) [George Packer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-packer/) > [Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. Or give it up. This is not a game of cards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-kuan-yew/whoever-governs-singapore-must-have-that-iron-in-him-or-give-it-up/) [Lee Kuan Yew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-kuan-yew/) > [The general will rules in society as the private will governs each separate individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximilien-robespierre/the-general-will-rules-in-society-as-the-private-will-governs-each/) [Maximilien Robespierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximilien-robespierre/) > [“That government is best that governs not at all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/that-government-is-best-that-governs-not-at-all/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Passion governs, and she never governs wisely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/passion-governs-and-she-never-governs-wisely/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The dead governs the living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auguste-comte/the-dead-governs-the-living/) [Auguste Comte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auguste-comte/) > [We cannot but believe that He who made the world still governs it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/we-cannot-but-believe-that-he-who-made-the-world-still-governs-it/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [The government is worst which governs most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-government-is-worst-which-governs-most/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/that-government-is-best-which-governs-the-least-because-its-people/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Attention may sound dull, but it is an essential aspect of consciousness. In fact, it governs what it is that we turn out to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-mcgilchrist/attention-may-sound-dull-but-it-is-an-essential-aspect-of/) [Iain McGilchrist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-mcgilchrist/) > [How much we like ourselves governs our performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-tracy/how-much-we-like-ourselves-governs-our-performance/) [Brian Tracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-tracy/) ## More by Wendell Phillips > [Right is the eternal sun; the world cannot delay its coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/right-is-the-eternal-sun-the-world-cannot-delay-its-coming/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The best education in the world is that got by struggling to get a living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-best-education-in-the-world-is-that-got-by-struggling-to-get-a/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/eternal-vigilance-is-the-price-of-liberty-power-is-ever-stealing-from/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The Puritan's idea of hell is a place where everybody has to mind his own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-puritan-s-idea-of-hell-is-a-place-where-everybody-has-to-mind-his/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The paleontological evidence before us today clearly demonstrates ordered progressive change with the successive development of new faunal and floral assemblages through the changing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-paleontological-evidence-before-us-today-clearly-demonstrates/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The press is the exclusive literature of the million; to them it is literature, church, and college.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-press-is-the-exclusive-literature-of-the-million-to-them-it-is/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Every government is always growing corrupt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/every-government-is-always-growing-corrupt/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Neither do I acknowledge the right of Plymouth to the whole rock. No, the rock underlies all America: it only crops out here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/neither-do-i-acknowledge-the-right-of-plymouth-to-the-whole-rock-no/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [The heart beats louder and the soul hears quicker in silence and solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/the-heart-beats-louder-and-the-soul-hears-quicker-in-silence-and/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Freedom to preach was first gained, dragging in its train freedom to print.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/freedom-to-preach-was-first-gained-dragging-in-its-train-freedom-to/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Politicians are like the bones of a horse's foreshoulder-not a straight one in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/politicians-are-like-the-bones-of-a-horse-s-foreshoulder-not-a/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Wants awaken intellect. To gratify them disciplines intellect. The keener the want the lustier the growth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/wants-awaken-intellect-to-gratify-them-disciplines-intellect-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Popular opinion is oftenest, what Carlyle pronounced it to be, a lie!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/popular-opinion-is-oftenest-what-carlyle-pronounced-it-to-be-a-lie/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Great political questions stir the deepest nature of one-half the nation, but they pass far above and over the heads of the other half.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/great-political-questions-stir-the-deepest-nature-of-one-half-the/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [Organize, and stand together. Claim something together, and at once; let the nation hear a united demand from the laboring voice, and then, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/organize-and-stand-together-claim-something-together-and-at-once-let/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) [Explore all 117 Wendell Phillips quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) ## More Form quotes > [The Copa del Rey is a different competition. It is football in its purest form and is different from the continuity of the league.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-laudrup/the-copa-del-rey-is-a-different-competition-it-is-football-in-its/) [Michael Laudrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-laudrup/) > [We could form a government of national unity fighting corruption. The ordinary Afghan is sick and tired of it, because it's she or he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashraf-ghani/we-could-form-a-government-of-national-unity-fighting-corruption-the/) [Ashraf Ghani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashraf-ghani/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. Put back together well, they won't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/broken-by-hardships-disappointments-and-tragedy-people-can-become/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bull/i-think-it-s-useful-to-experience-other-types-of-dance-and-other/) [Deborah Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bull/) > [There cannot be any communication except through form. If there is no form, you cannot create emotion in the spectator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-resnais/there-cannot-be-any-communication-except-through-form-if-there-is-no/) [Alain Resnais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-resnais/) > [I am strongly opposed to any form of amnesty, including, especially, executive amnesty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-scalise/i-am-strongly-opposed-to-any-form-of-amnesty-including-especially/) [Steve Scalise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-scalise/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) [Browse all 12,984 Form quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men. Everybody knows that government never began anything. It is the whole world that thinks and governs.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendell Phillips" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-alone-forms-men-everybody/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Form" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-alone-forms-men-everybody/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/wendell-phillips-3986_form_government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-a_2440263.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Government arrogates to itself that it alone forms men. Everybody knows that government never began…” — Wendell Phillips", "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": "Wendell Phillips", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Government arrogates to itself that it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-alone-forms-men-everybody/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/government-arrogates-to-itself-that-it-alone-forms-men-everybody/#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 } } ] } ```