Bastian letter: Election and reflections
As we prepare for this important election season, it might be good for us to reflect on the wisdom of the ages.
“The proper function of governments is to make it easy for the people to do good and difficult for them to do evil.” Gladstone
“Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” Burke
“All good government must begin in the home — It is useless to make good laws for bad people.” Haweis
“It is better for a city to be governed by a good man than by good laws.” Aristotle
“A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice and the interest of the people themselves.” Grover Cleveland
“The less government we have the better. Fewer laws and less power.” Emerson
Morris Bastian, Boise
This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 11:24 PM with the headline "Bastian letter: Election and reflections."