# Quote — Daniel Quinn, My Ishmael

> That’s what governments are there for, to keep good things from happening.

- Author: [Daniel Quinn](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn.md)
- Book: [My Ishmael](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/my-ishmael.md)
- Page: 212
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Quinn#My_Ishmael_(1997)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/my-ishmael/thats-what-governments

## More from this book

> People seldom look very hard for things they don’t want to find.

p. 63 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/my-ishmael/people-seldom-look.md)

> By the simple act of being locked up, food was transformed into a product—the fundamental product of your economy.

p. 174 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/my-ishmael/by-the-simple.md)

> They’re sure that there must be all sorts of things wrong with ever tribal way of life, and of course they’re correct—if you mean by “wrong” something you don’t like.

p. 95 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-quinn/my-ishmael/theyre-sure-that.md)