Quotes About Democracy

The voice of the majority is no proof of justice.

No, I lost every one," Hesho said. "The rest of the assembly voted unanimously against my desires in each matter. What rotten luck! Ah, the indignities you must suffer when your people are a true democracy, and not a shadow dictatorship ruled by an ancestral line of kings. Right?" The other kitsen flying past raised a cheer for democracy.

America has never seen itself as a national state like all others, but rather as an experiment in human freedom and democracy.

All the Wallander books are basically a discussion on the relationship between democracy and the system of justice.

Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man?

The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it.

A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.

The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the law free.

But a government in which the majority rule in all cases can not be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.

We talk about a representative government; but what a monster is that where the noblest faculties of the mind, and the whole heart, are not represented.

All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it. The character of the voters is not staked. I cast my vote, perchance, as I think right; but I am not vitally concerned that that right should prevail. I am willing to leave it to the majority. Its obligation, therefore, never exceeds that of expediency.

Even in our democratic New England towns the accidental possession of wealth, and its manifestation in dress and equipage alone, obtain for the possessor almost universal respect. But they who yield such respect, numerous as they are, are so far heathen, and need to have a missionary sent to them.

The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual.

Can there not be a government in which the majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?

He was holding his breath so as not to inhale the odor of democracy.

A politician normally prospers under democracy in proportion . . . as he excels in the invention of imaginary perils and imaginary defenses against them.

There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.

But this august dignity I treat of, is not the dignity of kings and robes, but that abounding dignity which has no robed investiture. Thou shalt see it shining in the arm that wields a pick or drives a spike; that democratic dignity which, on all hands, radiates without end from God; Himself! The great God absolute! The centre and circumference of all democracy! His omnipresence, our divine equality!

Growing up in Israel, how can I not be an optimist? When you remember what Israel was 50 years ago and you see Israel now, one of the most successful countries in the world, stable, democratic, with an enormously stable economy despite everything that has happened in the global economy in the last few years, how can I not be an optimist?

The machinery of the democratic process is really no different today from what it was 150 years ago.

George W. Bush broke a mold four years ago: Even though he lost the popular vote, he governed as if he had won by acclamation.

It is entirely undemocratic to continue these burdens on the people for years and years after the requirements of protection have been met and the representatives of these industries have become incrusted with wealth.

If people don't vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don't vote.

The US has not imposed democracy in Yemen, its people have.