"He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." —The Declaration of Independence

"The internal effects of a mutable policy are still more calamitous. It poisons the blessings of liberty itself." —James Madison, Federalist 62

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow." —James Madison, Federalist 62

"Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?" —James Madison, Federalist 62

"The legislative neither must nor can transfer the power of making laws to any body else, or place it anywhere, but where the people have." —John Locke, Second Treatise of Government

"The legislative cannot transfer the power of making laws to any other hands." —James Otis, "Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved"

"That is not a just government, nor is property secure under it, where the property which a man has in his personal safety and personal liberty, is violated by arbitrary seizures of one class of citizens for the service of the rest." —James Madison, "On Property"

"As far as laws are necessary, to mark with precision the duties of those who are to obey them, and to take from those who are to administer them a discretion, which might be abused, their number is the price of liberty. As far as the laws exceed this limit, they are a nuisance: a nuisance of the most pestilent kind." —James Madison, "Vices of the Political System of the United States"

"We daily see laws repealed or superseded, before any trial can have been made of their merits; and even before a knowledge of them can have reached the remoter districts within which they were to operate. In the regulations of trade this instability becomes a snare, not only to our citizens but to foreigners also." —James Madison, "Vices of the Political System of the United States"

"A government agency is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth." —Ronald Reagan, "A Time for Choosing"

"There is scarcely a single duty of government which was once simple which is not now complex; government once had but a few masters; it now has scores of masters." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"Administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"Administrative questions are not political questions. Although politics sets the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"Administration is everywhere putting its hands to new undertakings." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"Whatever hold of authority state or federal governments are to take upon corporations, there must follow cares and responsibilities which will require not a little wisdom, knowledge, and experience." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"The field of administration is a field of business. It is removed from the hurry and strife of politics; it at most points stands apart even from the debatable ground of constitutional study." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"A body of thoroughly trained officials serving during good behavior we must have in any case: that is a plain business necessity." —Woodrow Wilson, "The Study of Administration"

"The realization of a genuine social policy necessitates the aggrandizement of the administrative and legislative branches of the government." —Herbert Croly, Progressive Democracy

"The government must have the power to determine the Law instead of being circumscribed by the Law." —Herbert Croly, Progressive Democracy

"The day of enlightened administration has come." —Franklin D. Roosevelt, "Commonwealth Club Address"

"The truth about big government is the truth about any other great activity—it is complex. Certainly it is true that size brings dangers—but it is also true that size can bring benefits." —John F. Kennedy, "Commencement Address at Yale University"

"What we need is not labels and clichés but more basic discussion of the sophisticated and technical questions involved in keeping a great economic machinery moving ahead." —John F. Kennedy, "Commencement Address at Yale University"