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said it. Nor did Thomas Paine, another "Founding Father" who is sometimes wrongly credited with the quote.

Henry David Thoreau did use the line in "Civil Disobedience" (originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government") and its appearance in that famous essay probably popularized the saying in its best known form. However, Thoreau seemed to be making it clear that he was citing an existing motto.

He may have been paraphrasing the slogan coined by American journalist and editor John Louis O'Sullivan. In 1837, O'Sullivan wrote "The best government is that which governs least"

http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2010/06/that-government-is-best-which-governs.html

http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/government-best-which-governs-least-quotation

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Q: Did Thomas Paine write that government is best which governs least?
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