Quotation by

Thomas B. Macaulay

Nothing is so galling to a people not broken in from the birth as a paternal, or, in other words, a meddling government, a government which tells them what to read, and say, and eat, and drink and wear.

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Understanding this quote AI Analysis

Macaulay is saying that people who are used to freedom from the start strongly dislike a government that controls their personal choices and behaviors. He criticizes a government that interferes in everyday life by dictating what citizens should read, say, eat, drink, and wear.

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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.