Quotation by

Jonathan Swift

For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Jonathan Swift means that when people are ruled by a government they have not agreed to, their freedom is taken away, making them like slaves. He emphasizes that true authority must come from the approval of those being governed to avoid oppression.

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A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take …
I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country.

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Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil in its worst state, an intolerable one.