| The Columbia World of Quotations. 1996. |
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| NUMBER: | 20724 |
| QUOTATION: | Hence, the less government we have, the better,—the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual; the appearance of the principal to supersede the proxy; the appearance of the wise man, of whom the existing government, is, it must be owned, but a shabby imitation. |
| ATTRIBUTION: | Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. “Politics,” Essays, Second Series (1844). |
| BIOGRAPHY: | Columbia Encyclopedia. |
| WORKS: | Emerson Collection. |
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| | | The Columbia World of Quotations. Copyright © 1996 Columbia University Press. |
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