Quotes About Democracy

There are no special places in hell. Hell is a democracy.

In Iraq, the Americans had the naïve idea that people would be so happy to be liberated that nothing else mattered; and democracy would flourish overnight. It's a very ideological approach, and one which is intellectually bankrupt.

Political freedom means the absence of coercion of a man by his fellow men. The fundamental threat to freedom is power to coerce, be it in the hands of a monarch, a dictator, an oligarchy, or a momentary majority. The preservation of freedom requires the elimination of such concentration of power to the fullest possible extent and the dispersal and distribution of whatever power cannot be eliminated — a system of checks and balances.

History only suggests that capitalism is a necessary condition for political freedom. Clearly it is not a sufficient condition.

Abraham Lincoln talked about a government of the people, by the people, for the people. What we now have is a government of the people, by the bureaucrats, including the legislators who have become bureaucrats, for the bureaucrats.

Love of democracy can be likened to a mother's love for her son.It must be cherished, nurtured and protected for all of time

Since many Christians see God as an absolute authoritarian, we shouldn't be surprised when they prefer authoritarian leaders to democratic ones.

What it really means is that the general must understand that he is not a free agent and cannot hope to become one. He has to work within the limitations imposed by the fact that he is working for a democracy, which means that at times he must modify or abandon the soundest military plan and make do with a second-best.

At first Rumania may have been just a little neutral against the Allies, but that was because the rogues who governed her did not understand the 'brincibles' of democracy, but by the end of the war, although she was too small country to make spectacular gestures, Rumania was being very neutral against Germany.

The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting

Armies have always been viewed with suspicion in democratic societies because they are the least democratic of all social institutions. They are, in fact, not democratic at all. Governments which have tried to eliminate the officer class or to blur the distinction between officer and man have not been successful. Armies stand as disturbing reminders that democratic processes are not always the best, living and perpetual proof that, in at least this one area, the caste system works.

Soon after George W. Bush took over the White House after losing the "popular vote"—which in other countries is called the "election"—

Science is far from a perfect instrument of knowledge. It's just the best we have. In this respect, as in many others, it's like democracy. Science by itself cannot advocate courses of human action, but it can certainly illuminate the possible consequences of alternative courses of action.

The whole idea of a democratic application of skepticism is that everyone should have the essential tools to effectively and constructively evaluate claims to knowledge.

Thomas Jefferson taught that a democracy was impractical unless the people were educated.

The values of science and the values of democracy are concordant, in many cases indistinguishable.

Books are key to understanding the world and participating in a democratic society.

It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error. U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ROBERT H. JACKSON, 1950

Both science and democracy encourage unconventional opinions and vigorous debate. Both demand adequate reason, coherent argument, rigorous standards of evidence and honesty. Science is a way to call the bluff of those who only pretend to knowledge. It is a bulwark against mysticism, against superstition, against religion misapplied to where it has no business being.

Science invites us to let the facts in, even when they don't conform to our preconceptions. It counsels us to carry alternative hypotheses in our heads and see which best fit the facts. It urges on us a delicate balance between no-holds-barred openness to new ideas, however heretical, and the most rigorous skeptical scrutiny of everything—new ideas and established wisdom. This kind of thinking is also an essential tool for a democracy in an age of change.

The unprecedented powers that science now makes available must be accompanied by unprecedented levels of ethical focus and concern by the scientific community—as well as the most broadly based public education into the importance of science and democracy.

El secreto, con pocas excepciones, es profundamente incompatible con la democracia y la ciencia.

La idea general de una aplicación democrática del escepticismo es que todo el mundo debería tener las herramientas esenciales para valorar eficaz y constructivamente las afirmaciones de conocimiento

democracy can also be subverted more thoroughly through the products of science than any pre-industrial demagogue ever dreamed.