The worth of the state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it. John Stuart Mill
Nothing doth more hurt in a state than that cunning men pass for wise. Francis Bacon
As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State ‘What does it matter to me?’ the State may be given up for lost. Jean Jacques Rousseau
For, in order to turn the individual into a function of the State, his dependence on anything beside the State must be taken from him. Carl Jung
If there is a State, then there is domination, and in turn, there is slavery. Mikhail Bakunin
Where the state begins, individual liberty ceases, and vice versa. Mikhail Bakunin
All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state. Benito Mussolini
It is the State which educates its citizens in civic virtue, gives them a consciousness of their mission and welds them into unity. Benito Mussolini
States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions. Noam Chomsky
The State, that craving rookery of committees and subcommittees. V S Pritchett
The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation. Pierre Trudeau
While the State exists there can be no freedom; when there is freedom there will be no State. Lenin
It is only too clear from history that states rarely keep faith with each other, save in so far (and so long) as their promises seem to them to combine with their interests. Basil Liddell Hart
In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that of the person and the state…It’s become a fact of life that governments have become very intimate with people, most always to their detriment. E L Doctorow
The only stable state is the one in which all men are equal before the law. Aristotle