Here is my principle: Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
Taxes are paid in the sweat of every man who labors.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
The income tax has made liars out of more Americans than golf. Even when you make a tax form out on the level, you don’t know when it’s through if you are a crook or a martyr.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
To please universally was the object of his life; but to tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
Milk the cow, but do not pull off the udder.
—Greek Proverb
We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes non-work.
—Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American Economist
The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has. Even when you make a tax form out on the level, you don’t know when it’s through if you are a crook or a martyr.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Each citizen contributes to the revenues of the State a portion of his property in order that his tenure of the rest may be secure.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
The taxpayer—that’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
A fool and his money are soon parted. The rest of us wait for tax time.
—Common Proverb
The power to tax is the power to destroy.
—John Marshall (1755–1835) American Judge, Lawyer
Taxing is an easy business. Any projector can contrive new impositions; any bungler can add to the old; but is it altogether wise to have no other bounds to your impositions than the patience of those who are to bear them?
—Edmund Burke (1729–97) British Philosopher, Statesman
I have always paid income tax. I object only when it reaches a stage when I am threatened with having nothing left for my old age—which is due to start next Tuesday or Wednesday.
—Noel Coward (1899–1973) English Dramatist, Actor, Composer
Taxes grow without rain.
—Hebrew Proverb
Every advantage has its tax.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood but seldom forgotten.
—George Wilshere, 1st Baron Bramwell (1808–92) English Judge
I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935) American Jurist, Author
A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on Paul’s support.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
When there’s a single thief, it’s robbery. When there are a thousand thieves, it’s taxation.
—Unknown
Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) American Head of State, Lawyer
I don’t know of a single foreign product that enters this country untaxed, except the answer to prayer.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
In 1790, the nation which had fought a revolution against taxation without representation discovered that some of its citizens weren’t much happier about taxation with representation.
—Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–73) American Head of State, Political leader
Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut save you thirty cents?
—Peg Bracken (1918–2007) American Author
Nothing is so well calculated to produce a death-like torpor in the country as an extended system of taxation and a great national debt.
—William Cobbett (1763–1835) English Journalist, Social Reformer
An income tax form is like a laundry list-either way you lose your shirt.
—Fred Allen (1894–1956) American Comedian, Radio Personality
We believe the American people can spend their money better than the government can spend it.
—George W. Bush (b.1946) American Head of State, Businessperson
Taxes are important. President Bush’s tax proposals leave no rich person behind. Voters approve of President Bush helping the kind of people they wish they were one of.
—Andy Rooney (b.1919) American Writer, Humorist, TV Personality
America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation.
—Laurence J. Peter (1919–90) Canadian-Born American Author
We have long had death and taxes as the two standards of inevitability. But there are those who believe that death is the preferable of the two.
—Erwin Griswold (1904–94) American Attorney
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