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Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
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“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Abraham Lincoln

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Source
Gettysburg Address
Date
1863
Meaning

Meaning of “Government of the people, by the people, for…”

The closing line ties democratic government to public responsibility rather than rulers standing apart from citizens.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863.

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CommunityCompassionFreedomHelping OthersHumanityLeadershipServiceShortDemocracyHistoryPoliticsPower
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The object of government is the welfare of the people.
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“The object of government is the welfare of the people.”

Theodore Roosevelt · The New Nationalism · 1910
Meaning & context

Roosevelt evaluates public power by whether it serves the welfare of people rather than becoming an instrument for entrenched private advantage or special interests.

Source details

The New Nationalism, Osawatomie, Kansas, August 31, 1910. This is Progressive Era political argument about public welfare, economic power and government responsibility, not current policy guidance.

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The safety of the ship is the common business of all of them.
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“The safety of the ship is the common business of all of them.”

Aristotle · Politics: A Treatise on Government · 4th century BCE
Meaning & context

People with different roles can still share responsibility for preserving the larger community on which all of their particular roles depend.

Source details

Politics: A Treatise on Government, Book III, Chapter IV, William Ellis translation; represented through the 1912 Dent witness / Project Gutenberg #6762. Aristotle compares citizens with sailors whose different offices share one common concern: the safety of the ship, paralleling the safety of the political community.

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All those governments which have a common good in view are rightly established and strictly just.
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“All those governments which have a common good in view are rightly established and strictly just.”

Aristotle · Politics: A Treatise on Government · 4th century BCE
Meaning & context

Political rule is judged by whether it aims at a shared good rather than merely advancing the private advantage of those holding power.

Source details

Politics: A Treatise on Government, Book III, Chapter VI, William Ellis translation; represented through the 1912 Dent witness / Project Gutenberg #6762. Aristotle distinguishes governments ordered toward the common good from regimes serving rulers’ private advantage; the exact sentence falls before the edition’s Chapter VII heading and therefore belongs to Chapter VI.

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Society in equality is its normal state.
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“Society in equality is its normal state.”

John Stuart Mill · The Subjection of Women · 1869
Meaning & context

Mill contrasts relations organized around command and obedience with equal association, presenting equality as the normal direction of an improving society.

Source details

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter II, printed page 79, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill contrasts command-and-obedience relations with equal association and states that society in equality is the normal state toward which improving social relations should move.

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But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
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“But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

Matthew · King James Bible — Matthew 23:11 · 1611
Voice: Reported speaker · Jesus
Meaning & context

Status is inverted: the stronger model of greatness is usefulness to others rather than rank, display, or privilege.

Source details

Matthew 23:11 in the King James Version, within a warning against seeking honorific status and public elevation.

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