Molly Ivins - Government Quotes

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It's all very well to run around saying regulation is bad, get the government off our backs, etc. Of course our lives are regulated. When you come to a stop sign, you stop; if you want to go fishing, you get a license; if you want to shoot ducks, you can shoot only three ducks. The alternative is dead bodies at the intersection, no fish, and no ducks. OK?

Molly Ivins
I'm sorry that government involves filling out a lot of forms.... I'm sorry myself that we're not still on the frontier, where we could all tote guns, shoot anything that moved and spit to our hearts' content. But we live in a diverse and crowded country, and with civilization comes regulation.

Molly Ivins
I think government is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build with or you can use a hammer to destroy with whether government is good or bad depends on what you use it for and how well you use it. On the whole, it's a poor idea to put people in charge of government don't believe in using it.

Molly Ivins
Government is just a tool, like a hammer. There's nothing intrinsically good or evil about the hammer; it all depends on what it's used for and the skill with which it is used.

Molly Ivins
Personally, I think government is a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build with or you can use a hammer to destroy with. There is nothing intrinsically good or evil about the hammer itself. It is the purposes to which it is put and the skill with which it is used that determine whether the hammer's work is good or bad.

Molly Ivins