who said the government is best which governs least

The line “That government is best which governs least” is most famously associated with Henry David Thoreau , who used it as the opening motto of his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience. However, the wording (or a very close variant) appeared earlier as a political motto in the 1830s and has also been (incorrectly) attributed to Thomas Jefferson.

Who actually said it?

• Henry David Thoreau begins Civil Disobedience with the motto “That government is best which governs least,” then pushes the idea further toward almost no government at all.

• Historians have traced an earlier form—“The best government is that which governs least”—to an 1837 motto used by the United States Magazine and Democratic Review , a Democratic Party-leaning periodical.

• Thomas Jefferson never wrote this phrase, and Jefferson scholars classify the quote as spurious when it is attributed to him.

Why Thoreau gets the credit

• Thoreau’s essay became a foundational text for later movements of civil disobedience, so the motto is widely remembered through his use of it.

• In the essay, he argues that government tends to obstruct justice and conscience, and that a truly just system would interfere as little as possible with individuals acting morally.

What the quote is trying to say

• The phrase captures a minimal-government ideal: laws and state power should be limited so that citizens’ freedom, responsibility, and moral judgment can flourish.

• Supporters often see it as a call for smaller, less intrusive government; critics argue that complex modern societies may need stronger public institutions than the motto implies.

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