Peter Cove Quotes

The government’s unprecedented expenditures failed to bring about the decline in poverty that Johnson had promised. Instead, they made things worse.

We have moved from a commitment to serve the deserving poor to an assumption that all are deserving. And much of this rests at the feet of politicians trolling for votes by larding on the largesse.

This may sound like common sense, but the unfortunate reality is that objective self-review and recalibration are rarely the norm with most social programs. The widespread belief that commitment, good intentions, and good deeds are enough carries the day.

We have not abandoned our old belief in liberty, justice, and Self-help, but we say that under certain conditions the people cannot help themselves, and that then they should be helped by the State representing directly the whole people.

But without a caring society, without each citizen voluntarily accepting the weight of responsibility, government is destined to grow even larger, taking more of your money, burrowing deeper into your lives.

In my youth, I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.

A society - any society - is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on.

Ours is an individualistic society, indeed, and the state must do for the individual what the family does for the older civilizations.

When government tries to serve as a parent or teacher or a moral guide, individuals may be tempted to discard their own sense of responsibility, to argue that only government must help people in need. If we've learned anything in the past quarter century, it is that we cannot federalize virtue.

The object of Socialism is not to render the individual capable of living on his personal resources. That is the theory of radical individualism. Its object is to create in him a greater and greater sense of his dependence upon the state, and, at the same time, to inculcate in him the conviction that he is a part of it and that he has a duty and responsibility toward the state; and that only in so far as he fulfills this duty can he benefit by the advantages of a complete personal and social life.

When you're dealing with a small community, every person counts.

The more government takes the place of associations, the more will individuals lose the idea of forming associations and need the government to come to their help. That is a vicious circle of cause and effect.

Just as important as our society as a whole are our small communities: our neighborhoods, workplaces and schools.

Everybody is supposed to be a part of their own community.

The role of government is to steer us in the right direction, not do all the work for us.

Why is it is claimed that if people won't or can't take care of their own needs, that people in government can do it for them?

I don't like a lot of social programs either because it makes you non-productive.

I don't think it's government's job to find health care for people. I think it's the individual's job to find health care.

The European model is in danger if we obliterate the principle of personal responsibility.

The emphasis has been on rights, not responsibilities. When it comes to piecing together the fragments of broken lives, we have tended to place the entire burden on the state and its agencies.

A society in which there are high levels of voluntary activity will simply be a better, happier place than one where there are not.

Liberals tend to put the onus of your success on society and conservatives on you and your family.

When government accepts responsibility for people, then people no longer take responsibility for themselves.

The expectation of paternal care on the part of Government ... weakens the sturdiness of our national character.

It is time to break the bad habit of expecting something for nothing from our Government or from each other. Let us all take more responsibility not only for ourselves and our families but our communities and our country.