"That government is best which governs least" is a motto with which Henry David Thoreau opens his pamphlet, Civil Disobedience. It has been attributed to Thomas Jefferson, but no one has ever found it in any of Jefferson's writings. I think an argument can be made that it is not very likely he would ever have made such a statement, because it does not square with his views. - Source: http://eyler.freeservers.com/JeffPers/jefpco09.htm