For "as great a blessing as government is, " the Rev. Peter Whitney explained, "like other blessings, it may become a scourge, a curse, and severe punishment to a people." What made it so, what turned power into a malignent force, was not its own nature so much as the nature of man–his susceptibility to corruption and his lust for self-aggrandizement. Bernard Bailyn
About This Quote

Peter Whitney was the pastor of the First Baptist Church in New Haven, Connecticut. He was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union. Later in his life, he turned to religion and became one of the most influential evangelists in America, spreading his message of hope and love through sermons and books. The quote above was written by Whitney while he was speaking on another topic.

However, this quote was used by him to explain why he did not believe that government should be run by people. Government is a blessing that can be corrupted into a curse. It's what makes people susceptible to corruption and lust for self-aggrandizement.

Source: The Ideological Origins Of The American Revolution

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I wonder if fears ever really go away, or if they just lose their power over us. - Veronica Roth
  2. The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace. - Mahatma Gandhi
  3. Keep your best wishes, close to your heart and watch what happens - Tony Deliso
  4. I met an old lady once, almost a hundred years old, and she told me, 'There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who's in charge? - Elizabeth Gilbert
  5. This life is yours. Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of... - Susan Polis Schutz
More Quotes By Bernard Bailyn
  1. For "as great a blessing as government is, " the Rev. Peter Whitney explained, "like other blessings, it may become a scourge, a curse, and severe punishment to a people." What made it so, what turned power into a malignent force, was not its own...
  2. Power always and everywhere had had a pernicious, corrupting effect upon men. It "converts a good man in private life to a tyrant in office." It acts upon men like drink: it "is known to be intoxicating in its nature"–"too intoxicating and liable to abuse."...
  3. For the primary goal of the American Revolution which transferred American life and introduced a new era in human history, was not the overthrow or even the alteration of the existing social order but the preservation of political liberty threatened by the apparent corruption of...
Related Topics