So work the honey-bees;
Creatures, that by a rule in nature teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king and officers of sorts;
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds;
Which pillage they, with merry march, bring home.
To the tent royal of their emperor;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey;
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;
The sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum.
Delivering over to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone. [ William Shakespeare ]
Before man made us citizens, great Nature made us men. [ Lowell ]
Whatever makes men good Christians, makes them good citizens. [ Daniel Webster ]
A republic is not founded on virtue, but on the ambition of its citizens. [ Voltaire ]
A democracy is a state in which the government rests directly with the majority of the citizens. [ John Ruskin ]
At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. [ President Donald J. Trump, Presidential Inaugeration Speech, Jan 20, 2017 ]
Exact justice is commonly more merciful in the long run than pity, for it tends to foster in men those stronger qualities which make them good citizens. [ Lowell ]
The man who is just and resolute will not be moved from his settled purpose, either by the misdirected rage of his fellow citizens, or by the threats of an imperious tyrant. [ Horace ]
The best system of education is that which draws its chief support from the voluntary effort of the community, from the individual efforts of citizens, and from those burdens of taxation which they voluntarily impose upon themselves. [ Garfield ]