--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The republic which sinks to sleep…" description: "\"The republic which sinks to sleep, trusting to constitutions and machinery, to politicians and statesmen, for the safety of its liberties, never will h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/wendell-phillips-3986_constitution_the-republic-which-sinks-to-sleep-trusti_1450434.png" --- # The republic which sinks to sleep, trusting to… ![“The republic which sinks to sleep, trusting to constitutions and machinery, to politicians and statesmen, for the safety of its liberties, never will have any.” quote by Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/wendell-phillips-3986_constitution_the-republic-which-sinks-to-sleep-trusti_1450434.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/wendell-phillips-3986_constitution_the-republic-which-sinks-to-sleep-trusti_1450434.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f6/wendell-phillips-3986_constitution_the-republic-which-sinks-to-sleep-trusti_1450434.png) > “The republic which sinks to sleep, trusting to constitutions and machinery, to politicians and statesmen, for the safety of its liberties, never will have any.” [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. Reliance on institutions alone cannot guarantee liberty; vigilance is required. **In simple terms:** Liberty needs active protection. Key Takeaway Stay alert, question authority. Themes politics liberty citizenship Mood cautious critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - voting - community activism - public discourse - policy monitoring Key Concepts social contract civic duty Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens hold institutions accountable? - What safeguards ensure liberty? A Different Perspective Institutions can still protect rights if engaged. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Constitution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitution/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Liberties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberties/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Machinery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/machinery/) [Politician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politician/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Republic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republic/) [Republic Sinks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republic-sinks-5214242/) [Safety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety/) [Safety Liberties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safety-liberties-5214243/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Statesmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/statesmen/) [Trusting Constitutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trusting-constitutions-5214241/) ## Related quotes > [What gunpowder did for war, the printing-press has done for the mind; and the statesman is no longer clad in the steel of special…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-phillips/what-gunpowder-did-for-war-the-printing-press-has-done-for-the-mind/) [Wendell Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-phillips/) > [On September 17, 1914, Erzberger, the well-known German statesman, an eminent member of the Catholic Party, wrote to the Minister of War, General von…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-clemenceau/on-september-17-1914-erzberger-the-well-known-german-statesman-an/) [Georges Clemenceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georges-clemenceau/) > [Knee-jerk liberals and all the certified saints of sanctified humanism are quick to condemn this great and much-maligned Transylvanian statesman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-f-buckley-jr/knee-jerk-liberals-and-all-the-certified-saints-of-sanctified/) [William F. Buckley, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-f-buckley-jr/) > [It is a melancholy experience for a professional mathematician to find himself writing about mathematics. The function of a mathematician is to do something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy/it-is-a-melancholy-experience-for-a-professional-mathematician-to/) [G. H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy/) > [Neither these statesmen nor their constituents sought in any way to use the Government for the interest of themselves or their section, or for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-toombs/neither-these-statesmen-nor-their-constituents-sought-in-any-way-to/) [Robert Toombs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-toombs/) > [The worst mistake that a statesman can make is to promise victory and to see it dashed, the hopes dashed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/the-worst-mistake-that-a-statesman-can-make-is-to-promise-victory-and/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Every wild apple shrub excites our expectation thus, somewhat as every wild child. It is, perhaps, a prince in disguise. What a lesson to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/every-wild-apple-shrub-excites-our-expectation-thus-somewhat-as-every/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The stuff that I have perhaps become known for that's based on fact, and English statesmen shouting at each other all the time, doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-morgan/the-stuff-that-i-have-perhaps-become-known-for-that-s-based-on-fact/) [Peter Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-morgan/) > [A statesman who shakes the fruit trees of his neighbors - to dislodge the worms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/a-statesman-who-shakes-the-fruit-trees-of-his-neighbors-to-dislodge/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation, are 1. Security to possessors; 2.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/the-three-great-ends-which-a-statesman-ought-to-propose-to-himself-in/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Change from below, the formulation of demands from the populace to end unacceptable injustice, supported by direct action, has played a far larger part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-benn/change-from-below-the-formulation-of-demands-from-the-populace-to-end/) [Tony Benn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-benn/) > [The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-mountain-of-history-books-under-which-we-all-stand-leans-so/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Statesmen are grocers, ambitious clowns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/statesmen-are-grocers-ambitious-clowns/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-statesmen-will-invent-cheap-lies-putting-the-blame-upon-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [He is almost a statesman. He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) ## 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 Constitution quotes > [ Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. 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