Quotes About Democracy

It is the indignity of being treated as disposable that pushes people towards religious fundamentalism in order to retrieve a sense of self, of meaning, of significance. This is why globalization breeds religious fundamentalism and free markets create terrorism and extremism, not democracy.

In our democratic society, the library stands for hope, for learning, for progress, for literacy, for self-improvement and for civic engagement. The library is a symbol of opportunity, citizenship, equality, freedom of speech and freedom of thought, and hence, is a symbol for democracy itself.

Si se le da la razón a Popper, como creo que debe hacerse, la conclusión a la cual se debe llegar es que la verdad misma es enemiga de la sociedad abierta y, en particular, de toda política democrática.

Do not fear Donald Trump. Fight. Don't give up. Never give up hope. Never give up on the American Dream. History is on our side. Have faith in each other. There is something good happening out there. I can feel it. Trust me, I helped usher in democracy in Mexico, so I know what momentum feels like.

The ancient Greeks lived more than 2,500 years ago and were responsible for many of the things you take for granted today, such as democracy, freedom of speech, theater, money, the Olympic Games, and crazy politicians.

But wars—or the threat of war—at least put an end to American chattel slavery, Nazism, Fascism, Japanese militarism, and Soviet Communism. It is hard to think of any democracy—Afghan, American, Athenian, contemporary German, Iraqi, Italian, Japanese, ancient Theban—that was not an outcome of armed struggle and war.

Athens's disastrous 415 B.C. expedition against Sicily, the largest democracy in the Greek world, may not prefigure our war in Iraq. (A hypothetical parallel to democratic Athens's preemptive attack on the neutral, distant, far larger, and equally democratic Syracuse in the midst of an ongoing though dormant war with Sparta would be America's dropping its struggle with al-Qaeda to invade India).

Military history reminds us that those who died on behalf of democratic freedom to stop totalitarian killing were a different sort than totalitarians who died fighting against it to perpetuate killing. The sacrifice of the former meant that generations yet born might have a greater likelihood of opportunity, security, and freedom; the latter fought for a cause that would have increased the suffering of future generations.

Democratic citizenship requires knowledge of war—and now, in the age of weapons of mass annihilation, more than ever.

I am not a dictator, I have only simplified democracy.

There are times when democracy can be a disadvantage. There is an often-recounted and many-versioned story of the mercurial Doug Scott on K2. All versions end with Doug disagreeing with the others, who suggest that the matter be put to the vote. 'You know, youth,' replied Doug, 'democracy is a bit of a failure if you end up having to vote on it.

What with the political monopoly, the Cheka and the Red Army, all that now existed of the 'Commune-State' of our dreams was a theoretical myth. The war, the internal measures against counterrevolution, and the famine (which had created a bureaucratic rationing apparatus) had killed off Soviet democracy. How could it revive, and when? The Party lived in the certain knowledge that the slightest relaxation of its authority would give day to reaction.

The long fight to save wild beauty represents democracy at its best. It requires citizens to practice the hardest of virtues - self-restraint.

I don't think it's so important who you vote for - you vote for who you believe in. The important thing is to vote, because it's our way and it's the best way.

The best revenge is democracy.

The best government rests on the people, and not on the few, on persons and not on property, on the free development of public opinion and not on authority.

My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.

I believe that American engagement, through our embassy, our businesses, and most of all through our people, is the best way to advance our interests and support for democracy and human rights.

I'd still like to be the President, of course, and I think the best way to do that would be to raise an army and seize the Capital. This strikes me as true democracy.

Nobody should have any illusions. The United States has essentially a one-party system and the ruling party is the business party.

If Thomas Jefferson thought taxation without representation was bad, he should see how it is with representation.

Few businessmen are capable of being in politics, they don't understand the democratic process, they have neither the tolerance or the depth it takes. Democracy isn't a business.

Dictators are not in the business of allowing elections that could remove them from their thrones.

We in universities are not in the democracy business. What we do, when we're doing it, is teach and learn.